Anything for Love
by The Night Lord
Summary: Angel and Cordelia are eagerly awaiting the birth of their second child, but someone from Angel's past is determined to ruin their happiness. Sequel to Measure of a Man and third in the Poster Girl series. R&R please
1. Coming Home to You

Alrighty peoples, here is the third in the _Poster Girl_ series

††††††††††

Dodging the staff, Angel elbowed the monk in the chest, before ramming the staff's end into the stomach of another monk. He then raised the staff to block another monk, but scored a boot to the stomach, as another monk did a spin in the air and kicked Angel in the face. He stumbled back, slamming another monk against a post

It had been three months since Buffy Summers died. Angel and Cordelia visited her grave in Sunnydale, before returning home where Angel continued his mourning. Seeing that he needed some time to deal with this, Cordelia sent Angel to a monastery in Sri Lanka. Angel had refused at first, but Cordelia was insistent and so he left. Within a month, he had completely gotten over Buffy's death and spent another month dealing with Darla's death. He was surprised to learn he had guilt over that. Angel kept in contact with Cordelia and the gang, phoning them nearly every chance he got. He wanted to go home to see his growing son, but then he began tracking a band of demons that were terrorising a small village. And he had found them. at first, he had been fooled by their monk clothing, but then he caught on and a fight ensued

Once the battle was done and the demons had been killed, Angel threw open the monastery doors to see a few villagers before him. He looked worse for wear, bruises and blood covering his face and clothing

"What happened?" asked a villager in Sinhalese

"Demon monks," Angel replied in his language, "Shoulda gone to Vegas"

††††††††††

"So, how'd it go?" Cordelia asked

She was sitting on the couch, one hand on her swollen stomach, while Connor sat at her feet, playing with his building blocks. She stroked his soft, brown hair as Wesley and Gunn entered the Hyperion, both worn out as they put their weapons away

"We got the demon," Wesley replied, "Put up quite a fight"

"When Angel's gonna get back?" Gunn asked, "Ever since he left, the demons have been coming out more often and we spend our time killing them"

"It's true we sacrifice a large part of our social lives, but work calls for it," Wesley said

"Yeah, who's got time for the social life when you're out there, doing it with the demons?" Gunn said, then looked embarrassed, "Pretend I never said that"

"Already ignored," Cordelia said, "Well, I haven't had a call from Angel in a few days now, but he'll call soon"

"Has she come out yet?" Wesley asked, looking up towards the second floor

"It'll be another five years before she comes out of there"

"She spent five years living in a cave in a world where her human were hunted and enslaved like cattle. It's remarkable she's survived this long. She's strong"

"Girl trades one cave for another. To me, Wes, that's not strong"

Wesley sighed and ran a hand through his long hair, before heading to his office

"You hungry, Connor?" Cordelia asked

"Yeah," he replied

"Come on, I'll make you some sandwiches"

Connor got up from the couch and grabbed onto his mother's hand, as she led him into the small kitchen and began making lunch for him and herself. Seating Connor at her desk, Cordelia grabbed her plate of sandwiches and headed over to the basement, hoping to find a few more books down there, when the door opened and Angel stood before her with a smile on his face. Cordelia cried out in surprise at first, but then wrapped her arms around him as he pulled her into the hug

"It's good to see you," she smiled

"Good to see you too," he replied, kissing her on the lips

"Hey guys, guess who's back"

Cordelia led Angel into the lobby by the hand, before stepping away as Wesley and Gunn arrived. Wesley gave Angel a hug first, as the vampire then shook Gunn's hand, before pulling him into a hug as well

"So, how was it?" Wesley asked

"Dada!" cried Connor

"Hey there, little man," Angel grinned, picking his son up, "You been good for Mommy?"

"Uh-huh"

"That's my boy"

"So, you were in another country," Cordelia said, "You would have had time to look around and so forth"

"Looking for gifts?" Angel asked, knowing straight away what she wanted

"Yes!"

With a small smile, he dug into his bag and gave her a small skull. Cordelia raised an eyebrow, as Angel took it from her and tossed it to Gunn, who accepted the gift. Angel then removed a necklace from the bag, as Cordelia grabbed it with excitement. She put it on, grinning before kissing Angel on the lips

"Thank you, I love it"

Angel then gave Wesley an ornate, 16th century dagger, which Wesley waved around with glee. Following this, Angel then went back to the basement and return with a large teddy bear that he gave to Connor, who squeezed it to his small body

"Angel, that bear is bigger than he is," Cordelia said

"Ah, he loves it. That's what matters," Angel grinned

"So, Angel, tell us about your time away," Wesley said

But the vampire ignored him as he stared at the second floor

"Has she come out?"

"We send tacos up," Cordelia replied, "Girl loves tacos. But no coming out"

"I'll go up and talk to her a bit later. And Wes? Sri Lanka was great"

Wesley nodded his head in acknowledgement, before heading back to his office with his dagger, as Gunn left the hotel, holding up the skull in thanks

"So, back to you," Angel said, "How have you been?"

"Been good," Cordelia replied, "Morning sickness is never fun. I've been to the doctors and everything's going well"

"And?"

"We're having a little girl"

Angel smiled and pulled Cordelia close to him, before kissing her on the lips

"We should go out for dinner," he said, "Just you and me"

"Sounds good to me. Tonight?"

"I'll make reservations. After I talk to Fred"

"Okay, hurry up and go talk to Fred"

Angel kissed her again, before heading upstairs and lightly knocking on Fred's door

"Just put them outside," came the reply

"Fred, it's me"

The door opened, as Fred smiled at Angel, her red glasses perched on her nose

"Hey, you're back. Good to see you're back. How are you?"

"I'm good thanks. How about you?"

"Great, good, fine, excellent, very well"

Angel peered inside her room and saw that the walls were covered in scribbling and a few drawings. He also saw taco plates strewn around the floor and dressing table

"Um, Fred, I can't come in"

"Oh, you got to go fight against the nasties. It's okay, I understand"

"No, I mean, I can't come in because you haven't invited me in"

"Oh, right, well come on in"

Angel entered the room and looked around, as Fred tried to clean up, but then went back to her scribbling, shy and in awe of Angel

"You know, you've been up here for quite a while. Maybe you should come downstairs, join the others, take little baby steps outside"

Fred smiled as he pressed her glasses further up her nose

"Baby steps, yes, sounds real good"

"I'm not rushing you, just whenever you are ready. You'll find that our world is not so bad compared to Pylea. Take your time"

Angel smiled at her and headed downstairs to make reservations for tonight

††††††††††

"We have found him, milord"

"You found Angel? The vampire?"

"Yes. He is here in Los Angeles. He returned earlier today"

"Excellent. I shall make my acquiescence with him then. Angel will pay for my son's death"

"Of course, milord"

††††††††††


	2. That Vision Thing

††††††††††

Cordelia cried out when the vision struck her. However, this vision felt so intense and pain flashed through her shoulders. Angel and Wesley were able to catch her and sit her upon a seat as she took a few deep breaths

"What did you see?" Wesley asked

"Herbalist shop, downtown China, a demon with really long claws and there's some sort of medallion. You have to get the medallion"

"Wes, start on it," Angel said

Cordelia excused herself and went to the bathroom, taking a few headache tablets. She had permission from her doctor to use them during her pregnancy, as she lifted her shirt up slightly, revealing the slashes in her stomach, then saw her shoulder

"Oh God, I hope the baby is okay"

"Cordy, the demon, did it have four claws or five?" Angel asked from outside

"Five claws"

"You sure?"

"I'm sure," she replied, counting the slashes

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Angel, I'm fine. Just…find the medallion"

††††††††††

"Well, this is the place," Wesley said, "The last one on the list"

"Why is it the place we want is always the last one on the list?" Gunn asked

"One of the unwritten laws of being a dick"

"You say the word dick again and we're gonna have a problem. What's the name of this place anyway?"

"Van Hoa Dong"

Gunn glared at Wesley as they pulled up at the store and headed inside

"Your kind not welcome here," cried the old Chinese man to Angel

"We're just looking for this," Wesley said, showing him a picture of the medallion

The old man looked at his wife, before leaping over the counter together, as long, razor-sharp claws grew from their fingers

"I'll take Gramps," Angel said, before getting kicked

Wesley and Gunn took on the old woman together, trying to avoid her claws and get some blows in, but she was too fast for them, smacking them around the place. Angel wasn't having much luck against the old man, his shirt torn open and blood seeping through. Dodging a high roundhouse, Angel grabbed onto the old man's sash and pulled hard, spinning him through the air and knocking him out against the wall. Meanwhile, Wesley and Gunn had finally managed to subdue the old woman, as Angel knelt beside the man and removed the medallion from his robe

"Damn, Grandma had game," Gunn said, wincing in pain

"We got what we came for," Angel said, "Let's head back to Cordelia"

††††††††††

However, in the time it took them to find the medallion, Cordelia had another vision, this one of a demon with boils. As a result, boils broke out across her face and neck. Fred, who had started leaving her room, didn't know what to do, but thankfully, Angel and the boys arrived within a few minutes

"What happened?" Angel asked, dropping to her side

"I don't know. We were talking and the next minute, she fell," Fred replied, "I didn't know what to do"

"It's okay, Fred," Wesley said, "We'll take care of it"

Angel carried Cordelia upstairs to their room, where she soon woke up, as Connor came into the room and joined them

"Don't let him see me like this," Cordelia said, hiding her face behind her hair

"Hey, Connor, how about you go with Uncle Gunn for a moment," Angel said

"Kay"

Gunn picked Connor up and left the room, as Angel turned back to Cordelia

"Why are the visions manifesting like this?" Wesley asked

"Why is this happening to me?" Cordelia asked, "I'm not a bad person. I may be snippy, but I'm not a bad person. I mean, I gave birth to a beautiful boy"

"Hey, hey, don't worry, Cordy, everything will be okay," Angel said, taking her hand in his, "We'll get to the bottom of this"

"You have to find the boil demon. He has a key for the medallion"

"Okay then. Wes, look after her"

Wesley nodded and sat beside Cordelia, a book in his hand, as Angel left the room and grabbed his broadsword, before getting into his car and driving off. He headed to a nearby key store that he knew catered to both humans and demons

"Okay, I'm looking for a key and make it fast," Angel said upon entering

"What kind of key are you looking for?" asked the storekeeper, "I have hundreds"

The lights came on fully, showing that the walls were covered in keys

"A mystical key," Angel replied

At that moment, the large boil demon from Cordelia's vision stepped into view, carrying a broadsword. He growled and lunged at Angel as they crossed blades

††††††††††


	3. The Name's Skip

††††††††††

"I've got it," Angel called out, holding up the key, "How's things?"

"She got another vision," said Lorne, "However, this time, I managed to tap into the line and someone is tampering with the visions. Something evil"

"And we all know there's only one person who would do this," Wesley said

"Lilah"

††††††††††

"Angel, it's so nice to see you," Lilah Morgan smiled, "What can I do for you?"

"What kind of game are you playing here?" Angel growled

"Oh you mean with the visions? The medallion and the key? Well, let's see, there is a man who has been wrongly imprisoned and I need a Champion to free him"

"And if I were to do this, you'll leave Cordy alone?"

"No, you'll do this because I asked you. This man is a powerful client and I need him here. Therefore, I need you to travel through into a fortified demon dimension to get him. Do this and what's-her-name will be okay"

"Her name is Cordelia Chase," Angel growled, grabbing Lilah by the throat, "So, what do I have to do?"

"I knew I could count on you, Angel," Lilah said with a smile after Angel released her

††††††††††

"Everything ready?" Angel asked

"Are you?" Wesley replied

Angel gripped his broadsword and axe, as Wesley slid the key into the centre of the medallion. Arms branched out from the key to touch the edge of the medallion, as Wesley spun it like a top at Angel's feet. A portal opened up, sucking Angel inside. When it closed, all of his weapons clattered to the floor, as Angel found himself standing inside a castle without them

"Of course, because defending myself would be too easy"

He followed the corridor to a small set of stairs and headed down, coming out into a large room with rock walls and a sandy floor. A large prism of flames hung in the centre, as an image of a man could be seen inside. A demon with an armoured body suddenly appeared beside Angel, watching the man burn

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked

"Quite good. Yourself?" Angel asked

"Good, good thanks. You're a vampire? How come you work for the Powers?"

"Just a thing I do. How come he's not screaming?"

"I block it out. The name's Skip"

"I'm Angel," he replied, shaking Skip's hand, "So, what did he do?"

"Oh something bad to get something this bad"

"Huh, well, I hate to say this, but I'm here to free him"

"You're a Champion and this guy is evil. You're gonna free him?"

"Afraid so. The only way I'm gonna save my girlfriend"

"Oh, well that's a shame," Skip said, "Because I really didn't want to do this"

Angel flew across the room from the blow. He got up, vamping out, as Skip swung his fist. Ducking, Angel delivered two swift blows to his stomach, followed by an uppercut. The blows hardly had any effect on Skip, as he punched Angel to the ground, before kicking him into the air and against the wall. Getting to his feet, Angel dodged Skip's next swing and cracked him across the jaw, then slammed him against the wall. Skip shoved Angel away and backhanded him

Angel kicked Skip in the solar plexus, then punched him, before running him headfirst into the wall, then threw him to the ground. Skip remained still, the flames died down and the man dropped to the ground, his skin smoky black from the fire, as his eyes glittered from his ashen face

††††††††††

The Plymouth pulled up across from the two limousines. Lilah and a few bodyguards got out of the limo, as Angel grabbed the man by the shirt and hauled him out of the car with ease, before heading over to Lilah

"Before you get him, reverse it," Angel ordered

Lilah looked back at her car, as the window wound down and a man wearing a fez popped his head out. Lilah nodded at him and he closed his eyes in concentration. Back at the Hyperion, the slashes, boils and scorch marks faded away from Cordelia's body, as Wesley called Fred on the cell phone

"It's done," she said

Wesley closed the phone, as Angel let go of the man. Two bodyguards grabbed him and took him to the other limo, before cutting the rope bounding his hands together. The man smirked at Angel as he was placed inside the limo

"Don't worry, Angel, its just business," Lilah said coolly

"Yeah, just business," Angel said

He walked away as Lilah did the same. However, a split second later, a rebar smashed through the window and impaled Fez Man through the head, killing him instantly. Lilah whirled around to see Angel standing up close to her, a furious look on his face. The amount of distance he had covered in such short time scared her, but not so much as what he said next,

"Don't you _dare_ come at me through Cordelia again. You play that card a second time and I will kill you!"

Angel glared at Lilah, before walking away. Visibly frightened, Lilah headed back to her own limo, now having to deal with a dead client, as Angel drove away

††††††††††

"How are you feeling?" Angel asked

"Feeling better," Cordelia replied

She placed a hand on her swollen stomach protectively, before continuing to serve up waffles and coffee. Angel watched her, as Connor joined them at the counter

"You know I don't eat, right?" Angel said

"Yeah I know, but you can eat them at least. Connor loves them"

Angel smiled at his son, who had his waffles covered in syrup and was now trying to eat them, prompting Angel to cut up the waffles for him and help him eat it

"Angel…about what you did," Cordelia started

"There's nothing to discuss about it"

"But, what about that man that Wolfram and Hart now has? He would be evil and would be hurting people. And he'll be doing it because of me"

"Cordy, in this case, it wasn't _what_ mattered, but _who_. You were who mattered, not only to me, but also to the team. I did what I had to and I'll worry about the consequences later. Given a chance to do it all again, I'd do the same thing again"

Cordelia smiled, as Angel did the same. She sipped her coffee, before seeing that Connor had syrup all over his face. Angel grabbed a napkin and wiped it up for him, as the trio sat together in contentment

††††††††††

"In one months time, our armies will march forth to Questral and we shall destroy the half-breed scum that wallow there," cried the general, "From there, we shall continue our crusade against half-breeds until only the pure remain"

"Huzzah!" cried the massive army, consisting of only pureblood demons

"We shall succeed where the Scourge had failed. The vampire Champion, Angel, shall fall to our might. And from there, no one can stop us"

"Huzzah!"

"Spread our message to all half-breeds: you can run, but you can't hide. And to our fellow purebloods: join us or stay out of our way!"

"Axtius! Axtius! Axtius!"

"There is something pleasing about all this," Axtius grinned

"How will you deal with the vampire?" his second-in-command, Haborym, asked

"With great satisfaction," Axtius replied, palming a glowing mace

††††††††††

Thought I might go with something different instead. For those who have read Monster Island, you'll know who Axtius is


	4. The Father of Doyle

Thought I might do something different here and use a bit of the plot from the novel _Monster Island_. It's quite a good book, though I hate all the Bangel crap in it. So yeah, there will be no Buffy or Scoobies in the next few chapters

††††††††††

Angel was out on patrol. He had dusted a few vampires here and there, but he was lost in thought as he travelled Los Angeles. It had been about a month since Lilah's attack on Cordelia and during that time, not much had happened. Well, there was Gunn's old crew running around, killing harmless demons. Angel had a showdown with them at Caritas, resulting in the rebuilt karaoke bar being destroyed…again. But now, there was a new case. Half-breeds had been turning up dead over the past few weeks. The half-breed community were in hiding, some using protection spells, others having left the city in order to get away from the hate violence

"Angel," came a voice

Angel turned around and saw one of his informers hiding in the shadows, his eyes wide and terrified. Cautiously, Angel headed over and was about to speak, when his informer suddenly collapsed, a gaping wound in his skull, as if someone had bashed him with a strong object

"Ah, Angel, finally we meet," came another, this time rough, voice

"Who are you?" Angel asked

A demon stepped out of the shadows. He was impressionably tall, standing at about seven feet tall. He was covered in leather clothing, which Angel noted that looked like armour, but it was his species that drew Angel's attention. He was a Brachen demon, with deep blue skin and red spikes covering his face, his red eyes boring into Angel with barely suppressed hatred. Then, Angel looked down at the glowing weapon in his hands and he took a slight step back

"Is that the Pristagrix? I thought that had been lost"

"It has been found," Axtius smiled, "Allow me to make my acquiescence. I am General Axtius, leader of the pureblood army"

"Can't be the Scourge," Angel said, "I wiped them out two years ago"

"Ah yes, the Scourge. They're part of the reason why my son's dead. But you, Angel, you're the real reason my son is dead"

"Your son? I don't know…oh," Angel said, catching on, "You're talking about Doyle?"

"Allen Francis Doyle, as his fool of a mother called him," Axtius grimaced, "I didn't get to name him. That's one of my few regrets"

"And the other is that he's not pureblood like you"

"Because of you, Angel, my son died for a group of half-breeds. _Half-breeds!_ He threw his life away like that. A waste of a life"

"Doyle died as a hero," Angel said, "He was a-"

He didn't get to finish, having to swiftly move out of the way of the Pristagrix, but only narrowly. He turned, as Axtius spun, faster than he expected and striking Angel on the shoulder. He cried out, the blow sending shockwaves through his body. Ducking under the glowing mace, Angel aimed a kick at Axtius's legs, then threw a punch at his chest. Axtius smacked his arm out of the way with the Pristagrix, before cracking him across the face. Angel hit the ground, blood dribbling from his mouth. He rolled onto his back, as Axtius brought the Pristagrix down onto his chest repeatedly. Bones snapped and shattered, as blood stained Angel's shirt. The final blow from the mace knocked him out cold

††††††††††

"Where's Angel?" Fred asked

She was starting to come out of her room more and more now, becoming even more confident in the world around her, especially after a visit from her parents a few weeks ago. Having accepted that she was completely free from Pylea, Fred had joined the team, showing exceptional skill in demon languages

"On patrol, trying to get some information on these killings," Wesley replied

"What is taking him so long?" Cordelia asked, hands on her stomach, "He's not normally gone this long"

"Maybe he ran into a vampire nest or a nasty demon," Wesley said

"He should be home by now"

Cordelia got up and started dialling a number on the phone, getting no answer

"Can't expect to get him on the phone. He don't know how to operate it"

"I'm sure Angel's just fine," Fred said, "He'll be back soon"

"Yo, I think we've got a situation," Gunn cried, coming into the hotel, "One of my informants reckons he saw Angel getting taken out by a big ass demon"

"Where?" Cordelia demanded straight away

††††††††††

Angel slowly and painfully opened his eyes. He was lying on his back, staring at the sky, as the stars twinkled back at him. He could feel burning pain in his arms and hands and looked around, seeing that his hands had been nailed to the ground with railroad spikes, while his ankles had been manacled

"Isn't it lovely?" Axtius asked, appearing in view, "The stars at night. But there is one thing more beautiful than this. Know what that is?"

_"Cordelia"_

"Sunrise," Axtius continued, before lying down next to Angel, "That is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. Course, you haven't seen one in a long time, so you've probably forgotten what they're like"

_"There was that time I was briefly human two years ago"_

"So, consider this a gift from me: sunrise. Oh, it's stunning. While it will happen in a matter of seconds, for you, Angel, it will feel like hours as it burns you away"

Axtius got up from the ground and smiled at Angel

"Have fun. I think this will be a fitting death for you, Angel. Farewell"

His leather armour creaked as he walked away. Angel gritted his teeth, trying to free himself from the spikes, but his body was still too badly damaged. Pain flared throughout him, making him want to pass out from the intensity of it

_"I hope you guys can find me if you're looking for me"_

††††††††††

"So this is where your informant last saw Angel?" Cordelia asked

"This was the place," Gunn said, "He said some spiked-faced demon attacked Angel with a glowing stick and beat him up, then dragged him off somewhere"

"Well, that doesn't help us out very much. Angel could be anywhere"

"I know. We'll go to Caritas," Wesley suggested, "Maybe Lorne could help"

Gunn turned the GTX around and headed off to Caritas, finding the place still wrecked from Gunn's crew having their own party there. Lorne was seated at the bar, wearing a robe and a glass of seabreeze in his hand

"And what can I do for you chipmunks?" he asked

"We're trying to find Angel," Cordelia replied, "He's disappeared"

"Well, who wants to step up and yodel a few lines for me?"

No one seemed obliged to sing, so Fred took the lead, singing a few lines of 'Crazy'. Lorne listened intently to her until she finished, then let out a long sigh

"So, where can we find Angel?" Cordelia asked

"We're gonna have to hurry real fast," Lorne replied, "Our Champ's in trouble"

††††††††††

Angel cried out when intense pain struck him. For the last hour, he had been trying to pull his hands free of the spikes, but had no success so far. His body was trying to heal his injuries, but he kept tearing them open, spilling more blood onto the ground. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he felt like he was going to pass out again. Gritting his teeth, Angel tried again and nearly passed out completely, but managed to stay conscious, as blurry figures appeared in his view

"Angel!" Cordelia cried

"Hold up, cupcake," Lorne said, "He's protected by wards. You can't get in"

Cordelia's hand flew up to her mouth, as Angel tried again with new resolve, not noticing that Lorne was walking in a circled around him, his hands out like he was running them against an invisible wall, before heading over to Wesley and whispering in his ear

"Whatever you've got planned, hurry it up," Gunn said, "Sun's rising up"

Wesley and Lorne headed back over to the ward and began muttering a spell under their breaths. Cordelia kept looking between the rising sun and Angel, as Gunn waited by impatiently. The rays of light were touching the walls of the building, as the magic worked and the wards fell. Wesley and Gunn rushed in, slowly removing Angel's hands from the spikes, wincing as he screamed in pain. Lorne and Fred got to work on the manacles and they managed to get Angel under cover as the sun fully rose up

††††††††††


	5. Monster Island

††††††††††

Angel slowly opened his eyes, feeling coolness on his forehead. Then he saw it was Cordelia, sponging the blood from his face. He smiled and took her hand in his

"You're awake now," she said with a smile, "Okay, so who did this to you?"

"It was Doyle…Doyle's father," Angel replied

"Doyle's father?" Cordelia cried incredulously, "Are you serious?"

"I'm serious. He wanted revenge because I helped Doyle die"

"Well, that's just pathetic"

"Considering he is the leader of a pureblood army"

"Okay then. So he's the leader of the Scourge. What do we do?"

"Firstly, the Scourge is dead. Secondly, we stop Axtius from killing more half-breeds"

Angel winced as he sat up in the bed, before drinking the blood Cordelia offered

"Okay then, let's get started"

With Cordelia's help, Angel got out of the bed, seeing that his torso was bandaged, as Cordelia helped him put a shirt on, before heading downstairs

"Daddy!" Connor cried

Angel winced as he picked his son up and headed over to the counter

"What can you tell us about the demon that attacked you?" Wesley asked

"It was a pureblood Brachen demon," Angel replied, sipping the blood, "His name is Axtius and he's planning to lead a war against half-breeds"

"And he's got a strong grudge against Angel," Cordelia added, "Because Axtius is also Doyle's father and he blames Angel for Doyle's death"

"But Doyle was a half-breed," Wesley said, "Why would Axtius care?"

"Because Doyle was his son," Angel said, looking down at his own son

"So, first order of business is to get the low-down on Axtius," Gunn said, "I'll start digging through my informants"

Grabbing his axe, he left the hotel, as Angel gingerly sat down at the counter

"Axtius means business. I could tell. If only I knew where he would strike"

"Well, I know there have been reports of a demon sanctuary island," Wesley said, "No one knows for sure if it exists or not. Mostly inhabited by half-breed demons"

"Then that's a place Axtius would start," Cordelia said

"We'll have to wait for Gunn to come back," Angel said

"I'll head out to the harbour, see what I can get," Wesley suggested

"I'll come with," Angel offered

"Angel, no, you're staying here," Cordelia said, placing a hand on his thigh, "You're still beaten up from the crucifying. Plus, it's daylight out there"

"Okay, I'll stay here then. Wes, step on it"

"Not a problem"

††††††††††

Angel came up from training in the basement a few hours later to find that Wesley and Gunn had returned, both with their own piece of information

"Axtius has been gathering purebloods for the last few weeks," Gunn said, "He's got an army and he's got weapons. He's planning to destroy some place called Questral"

"And I found a ship under his name heading southwest," Wesley added, "I've done some research and found that Questral is in the direction Axtius is going"

"Great, so we head over to the harbour and sink Axtius' ship," Angel said

"His ships just left," Wesley said, "However, I managed to get hold of someone who could take us to Questral faster than Axtius' ships. But we don't have long"

"Gear up and let's ship out," Angel said

"Wait, I'm coming with," Cordelia said

"No, you're gonna stay here with Fred and Connor. I can't fight and worry about you at the same time if you're there"

"Fine, I'll stay here then. Leave the pregnant woman behind. I just wanted to be moral support. Maybe even cheerlead, but it's a little hard with bub and all"

Angel smiled and kissed her on the lips, as Wesley and Gunn started gathering weapons together. Putting his duster on, Angel accepted a broadsword from Wesley, before heading out to the car and driving away to the harbour, where they met their boat's captain, a Miquot named Zeke

"I should warn you," said Zeke on their way over to Questral, "The inhabitants aren't quite friendly towards humans. And even less so to vampires"

"They'll change their minds when we say we're here to help," Gunn said

Thirty minutes later and the speedboat touched shore, as a group of demons came racing out and start jabbering away in their language. Zeke spoke to them in their own language, as the trio looked amongst each other with worry

"Take us to your leader," Wesley said, as Gunn snickered

Zeke spoke to the demons and they were led away through the jungle to a small village, where a large variety of demons, all of different species, resided. But it was the large amphitheatre rising up in the centre of the village that drew their attention

"The architecture suggests that the amphitheatre is at least a few thousand years old," Wesley said in awe, "This island has been a sanctuary for centuries"

"So, where's the leader of this place?" Gunn asked

"Here," Zeke replied, "And its 'leaders'"

"Zeke, why are these humans here?" asked one demonic leader, "And a vampire?"

"With a soul," Angel said, "I have a soul. I'm Angel"

"Angel, the Champion of the Powers That Be?" asked another leader

"Uh…yeah…the same. Look, there is an army of pureblood demons that is coming here to slaughter you all," Angel said, "We have to stand together and fight"

"And why should we believe you?" asked a leader

"Well, I'm the Champion. Why would I lie?"

"You're a vampire. With a soul, but a vampire nonetheless"

"Yeah, these guys aren't friendly towards vamps," Gunn whispered to Wesley

"We don't have much time for this," Angel said, "We have to be prepared. Axtius' forces will be here within an hour. Two at the most"

"Is he speaking the truth?" a leader asked

"I see no lies in the vampire," another leader replied, "We shall post far-seeing sentries to see the truth. If the vampire is telling no lies, we shall be ready"

"It would be helpful to start getting ready now," Wesley said, "Axtius has at least three cargo ships full of demons at his disposal. We stand now or lose everything"

Sentries were posted around on the eastside of the island where Axtius would be coming from. Angel, Wesley and Gunn were busy sorting out their weapons and a plan of defence with Zeke and Questral's leaders. Within forty-five minutes, an alarm went out, signalling the arrival of Axtius' ships. The night was still young, as Angel, Wesley and Gunn headed out to the shoreline

"Stick together," Angel said, "I'm not losing any of you guys tonight"

"You won't have to worry about us," Gunn said, "We can handle ourselves"

"I know you can, but this is gonna be brutal"

"We've accepted that," Wesley said, "We did lead a rebellion in Pylea"

Angel looked back out at the three ships on the horizon, as longboats were launched from them. Demons of all kinds lined the beaches, as well as the leaders of Questral. Angel could see Axtius leading the way, standing up on the bow with the glowing Pristagrix in his hand. The memory of his defeat came back at Angel, as he growled and gripped his broadsword, his face transforming into a vampire's, his golden eyes blazing as he bared his fangs

"Don't let them through," he said, "Stand your ground"

Gunn got into a stance, holding his car rim axe at the ready. Wesley had a crossbow, a small quiver of bolts tied to his hip, while a sword was strapped to his back. The first of the longboats reached the shore, pureblood demons poring out from them, all wielding glowing weapons, which Angel recognised as Mahkesh weapons. He thought those weapons had been lost forever in the Mahkesh War. But like the Pristagrix, he knew he was wrong again

"Here they come," Angel said, "Let's give it to them"

††††††††††


	6. The Fall of Axtius

††††††††††

Angel dodged a sword and sliced the wielder open, before defending a blow and kicking the demon in the stomach. Raising his sword to block the blow, Angel brought the blade down to decapitate the demon. Gunn slammed his axe blade into a demon's stomach, then ripped it away, as blood and gore poured onto the sand. Stepping away from the body, Gunn then dodged a sword and brought his axe upwards, slicing the demon in complete halves. Wesley shot a demon in the face, taking him down, then swiftly reloaded his crossbow and shooting another demon in the throat. A Mahkesh demon charged at Wesley and raised his sword, but Wesley slammed the stock of the crossbow into his stomach, then smacked him to the ground, before stabbing a bolt through his head and shooting the same bolt a few seconds later

A fire demon was launching fireballs, incinerating the inhabitants. A few of the jungle trees caught ablaze, flames crowning across the treetops, as Zeke brought forth a pair of daggers from his forearms and launched them at Haborym. She burned the knives away, before heading towards Zeke. He was backing up, still throwing daggers, but they had no effect on the fire demons, as she closed the distance swiftly and breathed a molten jet of flames onto Zeke, incinerating him into sludge and ash. Angel impaled a demon through the stomach, before kicking another demon in the stomach and snapping its neck, then taking its Mahkesh sword

"Thanks"

Power flowed through Angel's body, as he clashed blades with another demon and sliced its stomach open, then decapitating another demon. Gunn was down by the surf, killing two Mahkesh demons and beheading another demon. A fourth lunged at Gunn, taking him down into the water, but Gun fought back, elbowing the demon in the face, before planting his axe blade into its chest. He groaned and heaved the blade out, whirling around to cut down another attacking demon

Wesley rammed his sword through a Mahkesh demon's chest, leaving the blade there and grabbing his crossbow, shooting a demon through the throat, before taking his Mahkesh axe. A third demon came at Wesley, but he managed to cut the demon down, finding himself fighting alongside one of the leaders of Questral

"You are doing quite well for yourself," the leader said

"Same for you," Wesley replied, "Look out!"

The leader whirled around as Haborym bored down on him. Before he could do anything, Haborym scorched him with her flames, setting him ablaze and killing him almost instantly. Wesley could only watch in horror, as Haborym turned to him, a wide grin appearing on her face as she raised her hands

"Wesley!"

Haborym whirled around as Angel slashed at her, the blade passing through her flames. He then punched her in the face, scorching his knuckles. Growling, Angel then impaled her through the mid-section, as Wesley raised his sword. Haborym smacked Wesley aside, before grabbing Angel by the shirt and tossing him through the air. He rolled several times, kicking a demon in the stomach, before rising up and snapping its neck, as Haborym came towards him. Angel waited until she got close, before grabbing her, ignoring the burning pain in his body, and wrestled her into the seawater. Haboyrm cried out, trying to burn Angel, but was only able to create steam bubbles, as Angel held her under the water, the majority of his burn injuries being reduced by the sea. The flames died down on Haborym's body, as Angel withdrew a dagger from his coat and impaled her through the chest

Looking around, Angel could see the carnage that spread all over the shoreline. Demons, both pureblood and half-breed, lay dead or dying, their blood staining the sand. He looked towards the trees, seeing that most of the flames had been dispersed, as a few demons tried to put out the rest of the flames, but he was glad to see that Axtius' forces hadn't made it to the village. Yet. Spying Axtius killing his way through the defences, Angel calmed himself down, resuming his human face, before grabbing a nearby Mahkesh sword and hurrying after the Brachen leader

"Axtius!"

"There you are, Angel. Come to me and die!"

Angel swung his sword, but Axtius blocked with the Pristagrix, before swinging at his stomach. Angel sucked his gut in, booting Axtius in the chest, then swinging the sword around. Axtius blocked and whirled around, slamming his mace against Angel's shoulder. Gritting his teeth, Angel dropped his sword and uppercutted Axtius on the jaw, ignoring the pain in his fist from the spikes. Leaving the sword in the sand, Angel dodged the Pristagrix and delivered two blows to Axtius' solar plexus

"You are trying to send yourself to an early grave?" Axtius asked, "Fighting against me without a weapon? Such foolishness"

"Doyle was a hero," Angel said, dodging two swings from Axtius, "He knew what he was doing. He sacrificed his life so others could live"

"You killed him!" Axtius roared, narrowly missing Angel

"I wanted it to be me. But he wouldn't allow it. He fought the good fight. And in the good fight, all give some. Doyle gave all. I fight on in his memory"

"Silence, vampire!" Axtius said, "You are no champion! You're the lowest of low"

"I'm sorry you had to bring yourself to this," Angel said, dodging another deadly swing, "I'm sorry for the loss of your son. But if Doyle was here, what would he say?"

"It doesn't matter!" Axtius cried, scoring a blow to the face, "You took him away"

"He fought the good fight and gave it all. A hero, Axtius. Your son was a hero"

Ducking under the Pristagrix, Angel aimed a kick at Axtius' kneecap, snapping it, bringing him down, before disarming him of the Pristagrix and taking it for himself

"I won't kill you, Axtius," Angel said, "I'm going to let you live"

"You will pay for this, Angel," Axtius growled, "You will pay!"

Angel swung the Pristagrix, smashing it into Axtius' face and knocking him out cold, before surveying the scene around him. Axtius' forces, whatever was left, were leaving after witnessing their general's defeat. Any pureblood that tried to continue to fight were killed. Soon, the battle was over, as the sun slowly started to rise. A few hours later, Wesley, Gunn and Angel were back on the boat, heading back to the mainland. Angel was hiding under a thick blanket, watching the thick smoke rise from the enormous funeral pyres and thinking about the last few hours

"So, what do you think they're gonna do with Axtius?" Gunn asked

"Apparently they're gonna keep him imprisoned," Wesley said, "Deep beneath the island, from where he cannot escape. I think we did good back there"

"That was one of the most exhilarating fights I've ever been in"

"Angel, you okay?" Wesley asked

"Yeah, I'm fine," Angel said, having been silent on the trip back, "Just thinking about home. Cordelia's gonna be worrying something chronic"

"She won't have to worry no more now we're back," Gunn said

They reached back at the mainland, as Wesley drove them to the Hyperion. Cordelia was on the phone, putting it down when she saw them arrive back

"Oh, you're alive," she cried, hugging Angel, "Well, not dust anyway"

"Where's Connor?" Angel asked after kissing Cordelia

"Connor"

Their son appeared, seeing his father and running over, as Angel scooped him up into his arms, wincing slightly in pain as he headed into the lobby

"So, who's on the phone?" Angel asked, sitting down on the couch

"It's Buffy"

"Come again?"

"She's alive. Willow brought her back. She wants to talk to you"

Angel put Connor down and headed over to the phone, raising it to his ear

"Buffy?"

"Angel? Oh, it's so good to hear your voice again"

"Same here. So, you're alive again. How are you doing?"

"Fine, so far. Listen, Angel, I need to see you"

"Well, I could come out to Sunnydale for a while, if it's fine with Cordy"

"No, not Sunnydale"

"Okay then, you can come to LA"

"No, not there either. How about somewhere in between"

"Hang on," Angel said, before turning to Cordelia, "She wants to see me"

"Fine with me," Cordelia replied, "Keep your hands to yourself though"

"Yeah, Buffy, I'll come out and see you," Angel said into the phone

"Okay, that'll be great. I'll see you soon then"

Angel and Buffy hung up at the same time. He headed over to Cordelia and kissed her, before grabbing his blanket and heading out the car

††††††††††


	7. Misogyny Man

††††††††††

Angel arrived back at the Hyperion late at night, surprised to see that no one was around. Dumping his coat on the counter, he headed upstairs, leaving his shirt on the handrail and smiling slightly when he saw the light on in Fred's room. He then headed over to Connor's room and checked on his son, seeing that he was sleeping peacefully. Angel then headed to his own room, seeing that Cordelia was asleep. He sat down gently on the bed and removed his shoes, followed by his pants, as he got in under the covers and curled up around Cordelia

"How'd it go?" she asked sleepily

"Complicated…as usual," Angel replied, "She wanted me to come back"

"Doesn't she understand that you have a kid, a second on the way and you're need here?" Cordelia asked, becoming more awake now

"She's a little messed up following her resurrection. She's a little unhappy because she was in Heaven, but I think she'll be fine. Give it time, she'll be good again"

"Good, cause there's no way you're going back there"

"Okay then. Now go to sleep"

Cordelia kissed him and rolled back over, before falling asleep, as Angel drifted off

††††††††††

_A man and a woman are arguing in a shopping centre. A husband and wife. Their yelling increases and the husband lashes out in fury. He then starts pummelling her_

Cordelia cried out and fell back into Angel's arms as he supported her to the couch, as Wesley and Gunn join her side

"Shopping mall. A husband and wife are arguing. He hits her," Cordelia said, "I think he's going to kill her"

"We're on it," Gunn said, "Might be possessed"

He and Wesley left the hotel, while Angel stayed by her side, as Connor joined them

"Mommy okay?" he asked

"Yeah, Mommy's fine," Angel replied, "You'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just get me a glass of water"

She rested a hand on her swollen stomach, as Angel picked Connor up, before getting Cordelia a glass of water. He stayed by her side, playing with Connor for the next hour until Wesley and Gunn arrived back at the hotel

"We arrived there just in time. The husband has been taken into custody," Wesley said, "But there's no demonic possession involved"

"How do you know?" Angel asked

"Wes tried some fancy power or whatever," Gunn replied, "Whatever was supposed to happen didn't and the guy wanted to slug us"

"So maybe he was just a violent guy," Cordelia suggested

"Well, we did manage to get a video tape recording," Wesley continued, "Wasn't easy though, but we managed"

He slid the tape into the video machine and pressed play. The video showed the couple just talking normally to each other as they browsed through the clothes. Then the husband all of a sudden starting attacking his wife

"Hold it," Angel said, "Rewind and pause"

Wesley did just that, as Angel headed over to the screen

"Recognise him?" he said, pointing a man out, "He's the guy we saved from Hell"

Sure enough, it was the very same man Angel had rescued for Wolfram and Hart

††††††††††

"What are you doing?" Lilah demanded

"Just having a chat with young Billy here," Gavin Park replied, "About not wandering out alone"

"He's my client, Gavin, so back off"

Billy smiled at the pair as they glared daggers at each other. At that moment, Billy's uncle arrived to take him back home, as Billy shook Gavin's hand

"Thanks so much. I'll see you guys around then"

Billy smiled and left with his uncle, as Lilah rounded on Gavin. Their boss, Linwood Murrow, had brought him in in order to replace Lindsey McDonald. However, according to Lilah, he wasn't matching up to his predecessor, although the only useful he had ever done was bug the Hyperion Hotel

"Where do you get off messing around with my client?" Lilah demanded

"Why don't you just shut your big fat mouth?" Gavin asked

Lilah was quite taken back by this. Never once had an underling spoken back to her like that. She opened her mouth to retort, but Gavin struck, his blow sending her reeling into the wall. Before Lilah could recover, Gavin slung her to the ground like a rag doll and started pummelling her

††††††††††

"Hey, are you okay?" Angel asked

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cordelia replied, watching her son

"No you're not. I can tell. Wanna tell me what this is about?"

"All those people. They're getting hurt because of me"

"No, it's not because of you, Cordy. It's because of him"

"Because of me, he's free," Cordelia said, the tears threatening to spill over, "Because of me, you had to free him. All to save me"

"And I'd do it again," Angel said, earning a smile, then kneeling before her, "Look, it was all about what was at stake. You were at stake and I was willing to do anything for you. You know that. I'll do anything for you and our kids"

Cordelia managed a smile and kissed him, before looking over at Connor, her hands clasped over Angel's, which were resting against her stomach

"What now?" she asked

"Now I find that guy and I tear him apart," Angel replied

††††††††††

_A few hours later…_

Wesley looked up when Angel arrived beside him. A police car had been crashed into a pole, while the female officer was taken into an ambulance, her male partner placed inside a body bag and carted away

"Any sign of Billy?" Angel asked

Wesley shook his head

"Damn. And I was so close"

"We have to find and stop him soon," Wesley said, "The officer here was lucky. She managed to shoot her partner. Billy must be-"

"Blood"

Wesley followed Angel to a handprint of blood on the wall, as he took a rag out of his jacket and placed it over the blood

"Whatever he is, he's not human," Angel said, "I was able to get into his house without any invite"

"Well, I'll take this back and see what we can find out about our friend"

He looked up to see Angel was already on the other side of the street, leaping up a building wall. Wesley sighed and placed the rag in his jacket, before heading off

††††††††††

Cordelia had enough sitting around at the hotel. She wanted to find Billy and make him pay for what he was doing to the women. So far, there were five women in hospital and another woman dead. Feeling the guilt, Cordelia loaded up a crossbow, before taking Connor with her, as Wesley arrived back at the hotel

"I've got a blood sample," he said, heading over to the counter

"I'm going out. Don't wait up for me"

With Connor by her side, Cordelia set out to find the one person who had started all of this. And she found her, knocking on her front door and waiting a few moments before Lilah opened up, her face heavily bruised from Gavin

"Hi, Lilah. Can I come in? Oh wait, I'm not a vampire," she said, walking in

"Please. Come on in," Lilah said sarcastically, closing the door

††††††††††

Wesley looked up to see Fred pouring over a book, helping in figuring out Billy's race from the blood sample. So far, Wesley had concluded that Billy's power extended beyond a simple touch of his skin, embedding in his sweat and blood, something that had made Fred start to worry and she was slowly backing out of the office

"Where are you going?" Wesley asked in a low voice

"To get – more books – yeah, need a few – from upstairs," Fred rambled

"Don't lie to me, Fred"

"I'm not lying"

Wesley rose up slowly, placing his glasses on the desk and glaring at Fred menacingly. He stalked over to her, a hungry look in his eyes

"Wesley?"

"From now on, you'll no longer wear this…provocative clothing," he said, touching her bare shoulder

"Provocative?" Fred cried

Wesley struck her, knocking her down. Fred scrambled to her feet and hurried off, as Wesley sighed, loosening his tie, before grabbing an axe from the cabinet

"You forced this upon yourself, Fred"

††††††††††


	8. In Your Head

††††††††††

"Where is he going?" Cordelia asked, "Connor, no, stay away from that"

Connor withdrew his hands from the large vase, as Lilah sat on her couch

"And give me one good reason why I should tell you?" she asked

"Because like me, you're a vicious bitch," Cordelia replied, "Well, apparently. I mean, how can a vicious bitch deserve the crown after taking a beating like that and lying low, crying in her dark room"

"I have not been crying," Lilah protested

"Your hastily applied mascara says otherwise. Now, tell me, Lilah, where is Billy going?" Cordelia asked

††††††††††

Fred hurried along the corridor, looking over her shoulder for Wesley, so she didn't see who she bumped into. Luckily for her, it wasn't Wesley. It was Gunn

"What's going on?" he asked, helping her to her feet

"We have to hide now!" Fred cried, "Wesley's lost it!"

"In here"

They hurried into a room and started barricading it with whatever they could find, as Wesley stalked into the hallway, an evil glint in his eyes as he stopped before the door

"So why is Wesley acting like Jack from _The Shining_?" Gunn asked

"That man, Billy, he makes men evil. He makes them want to hurt women," Fred replied, "Wesley must have touched his blood while analysing it"

"You mean that blood on the rag downstairs?" Gunn asked, "The very same one I picked up and looked at?"

"Oh no"

"Let me out of here"

Gunn went to remove the barricades, but an axe blade sliced into the door. He jumped back, grabbing a block of wood and handing it to Fred

"Take me out. Knock me down," he demanded

"On your head?" Fred asked in a frightened voice

"Yes! Do it before I take it and bash your stupid head in!"

Just as Gunn moved at her, Fred took a mighty sweep, cracking him across the head and knocking him out cold, as Wesley kept chopping his way through the door

††††††††††

"Billy Blim?"

Billy turned around to face Cordelia. She had dropped Connor off at Piper's house, before heading over to the airport where Billy was trying to get a flight out of LA

"Do I know you?" Billy asked, his eyes roving over Cordelia

"I'm Cordelia Chase. I'm the woman Wolfram and Hart tortured in order to have you released," Cordelia replied

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Do you want revenge?"

"On behalf of all those women you've hurt"

Cordelia rammed a taser into Billy's groin. He cried out, before finding a loaded crossbow aimed at his jugular

"I never even touched those girls," Billy said, "Besides, men are just as bad. They're willing to throw away so much for what's under your skirt"

"I'm wearing pants," Cordelia said

"Does that make you feel like a man? Make you feel superior?"

"Actually, I'm feeling superior because I have an arrow aimed at your jugular. And the irony of using a phallic shaped weapon? Not lost on me"

"So, where is your man?" Billy asked, "The one who got you pregnant? Or did he use you for his own pleasures? Use you like a whore?"

Cordelia pressed the bolt harder against his throat

"Don't even push me," she threatened

"You won't do it"

"Try me"

However, at that moment, a quick hand took her crossbow away from Billy's throat, as Angel stood in front of her, partially shielding her from Billy

"You saved me again," Billy cried

"I'm gonna kick your ass, you little twerp," Angel growled

"Angel, he can't hurt me," Cordelia said

"No, I won't," Billy said, pressing his hands to Angel's face

"Angel?"

"Should be fun. I've never done this to a vampire before"

"You know what your problem is?" Angel asked, turning on Cordelia

He raised his fist and swung, spinning around to crack Billy across the jaw

"People like him," Angel said, landing another blow on the half-demon

Cordelia smiled, knowing that Angel hadn't turned on her, as he continued to beat Billy up. The half-demon tried fighting back, but Angel countered or block his every move, hammering him with each powerful and swift blow of his own. Catching his leg, Angel spun Billy through the air. Growling in anger, Billy slammed his fists onto the ground, absorbing red energy into his body and making his eyes flash briefly

Angel went for him, but found that Billy was now matching and countering his moves. Cordelia took aim with her crossbow, but found it difficult to aim as the pair kept moving all over the runway strip

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Billy seized up and felt limp, three gunshot wounds in his back. Angel and Cordelia looked over to see Lilah lower her gun, as she turned and walked away

††††††††††

Wesley succeeded in shattering the door and entered the room, seeing that Fred wasn't anywhere in sight and Gunn was lying unconscious on the ground

"Wanna hear my theory, Fred? It's about how stupid you are. I've noticed that whenever you got scared and ran away, it was always to the darkest place"

He smiled as he stopped before a wardrobe. Gripping the axe, he swung open the door to see it was empty and that Fred was reflected in the mirror, standing behind him

"I also like to invent things," she said, "I'm sorry, Wesley"

"Yes, you are," he said, facing her

Fred pulled on a rope. On the other end was a small fire extinguisher that swung into Wesley, knocking him back onto a sheet, which was covering the hole in the floor. Fred hurried over, seeing Wesley unconscious on the floor below

††††††††††

_The next day…_

"So, why didn't Billy's touch affect you?" Cordelia asked

She handed him a mug of blood and sat beside him on the couch with her coffee, one hand on her stomach, while Connor played before the pair

"His touch was all about hate," Angel replied, "When I was evil, I never hated my victims. I simply kill them for the pleasure. Never for the hate. All that, what Billy could bring out in us men, I lost that a long time ago"

"So, your evilness helps you keep your good grace. Vicious and valient, in a completely morbid way"

"I know. How are the others holding up?"

"Fred's fine. She'll only need that one extra therapy class now. Gunn's got a splitting headache and Wesley, well, he's broken up over the whole ordeal," Cordelia replied

"He'll be fine," Angel said, "In a few days, you'll see him back here and everything will carry on like before. It wasn't real. It wasn't Wesley. We know that and I hope he realizes that"

"I love it when you see the good in people"

Angel smiled and kissed her, before recling back to keep an eye on their son

††††††††††

_One month later…_

The demon Sahjahn made his way towards the statue, carrying a small bowl of powder. He walked around the statue, throwing the powder upon it, while chanting a small incantation. Once it was done, he lit up a cigarrette and checked his watch. The whole room started to shake, as if an earthquake had struck and the statue started to crumble, breaking apart to reveal a man, as he fell to the floor

"Right on time," Sahjahn commented, "You haven't used your body in over two centuries," he said to the man, "Welcome to the 21st century. Angelus is here. You'll need some time to"

He was cut off when Captain Daniel Holtz swiftly rose up onto his feet, as if the bicentennial sleep hadn't affected him at all, a look of determination in his eyes

"Just tell me where he is," he said

††††††††††


	9. Labour Pains

Okay, here it is, the start of the arrival of Angel and Cordelia's second child

††††††††††

_Two months later…_

Cordelia groaned as she clutched her stomach. She was nearing the end of her term and was ready to pop soon. And she wanted it over and done with

"You okay?" Angel asked

Cordelia glared at him and sat down gingerly, fanning herself with her hand. Angel got her a glass of water and she groaned when the first contraction hit

"Angel, I think it's time"

"Time? Seriously?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?"

"Uh, no. Wesley, Fred, get down here, it's time"

Wesley came out of the office, as Fred came down the stairs and they immediately started helping Angel gather his belongings together, as Connor climbed up onto the couch next to his mother

"Mommy okay?"

"Not quite, honey. Your sister is coming"

"Sister?"

"Come on, mate, let's get going," Angel said

He picked his son up, before helping Cordelia to her feet. Wesley and Fred took her out to the Plymouth, as Angel threw a blanket over himself and raced out. On the way over, Fred called Gunn to meet them at the hospital. Upon arriving there, Cordelia was instantly wheeled away to the maternity ward

"They say it's gonna be a few hours before the actual contractions kick in," Fred said, "So it'll be a while yet"

"God, I just want this over and done with," Cordelia said, "I want my little girl"

"Yo, what's been happening?" Gunn asked, walking in with Lorne

"Oh, Momma's gonna pop," Lorne smiled, which faded after he received a glare

"Well, at least I get service," Cordelia mused, "Didn't get that last time around"

"Oooh, what happened with Connor's birth?" Fred asked

"Quite an interesting story actually," Angel said, settling himself down

††††††††††

"When will we hunt for Angelus?" Holtz demanded, "For the last two months, we've done nothing but sit around and watch videos about history"

"Well, it has been a long time since we last met," Sahjahn tried to reason, "And the fact that you'll need all your strength in taking Angelus down"

"I'm tired of waiting"

Holtz reached out for Sahjahn, but his hands simply passed through the demon, as if he was nothing more than a ghost

"You think I would need your help if I could walk up to Angelus and stake him?" Sahjahn asked, "It's not that simple. Nor it is easy. You, of all, should know that"

"I am ready. I know I am ready. I know I can take Angelus"

"Fine. If you think you're ready, let's go. I've got some men lined up for us"

Sahjahn's appearance suddenly changed and he looked like an ordinary person, with his long brown hair tied back into a ponytail. Soon, they were out on the street, heading down a back street until they came to a small store. Upon entering and being led into the backroom, they came across a group of demons

"You ever seen Grappler demons fight?" Sahjahn asked, "Brutal and merciless"

"You said men, not demons," Holtz growled

"Gender, not species. These guys will help you hunt Angelus down. And whatever you do, don't ever piss off a Grappler demon"

"Well then, I suppose I shall get started"

††††††††††

"Everything is ready for their return," said Gavin Park, "Upon Angel and the seer's arrival, we'll be able to bring the baby back here for dissection"

Lilah watched on the screen as several special operations soldiers were lined up, surrounding the lobby, while a small cage waited in the middle, prepped for the baby. Since Wolfram and Hart knew Connor was human, they weren't interested in him, but they were interested his upcoming sibling, simply because Angel was a vampire at the time of her conception and it was general knowledge that vampires couldn't procreate

"This better work out well, Gavin," Linwood reminded him, "I'd hate for it t-"

"Who the hell is that?" Lilah asked suddenly

Someone had arrived at the Hyperion, wearing a large brown overcoat, his long grey-streaked hair hanging around his shoulders. He also had a small beard

"Check the files," Linwood said

Gavin ran a scan on the man, but nothing came up

"He's a nobody"

"New player?" Lilah said

"Don't care. Kill him," Linwood ordered

Then, the screen went fuzzy, as screaming and gunshots could be heard. Linwood smiled, as the video was fixed up and the picture returned. However, the image shown caused Linwood's smile to disappear: every special ops had been killed, while Holtz was walking amongst the bodies, cleaning the blood off his sword

"Whoever he is, I want him now," Linwood demanded

††††††††††

"How are you feeling?" Angel asked

Cordelia smiled at him and grabbed his hand, gently squeezing. They were the only ones left in the room, as everyone else was waiting outside. It had been a few hours since the first contraction and they were slowly getting more frequent

"She wants to come out," Cordelia replied, "She wants to say hi"

"I can't wait to say hi. I can't believe this is happening again. After Connor, I never expected us to have another child. A miracle child"

"And I'm completely happy for it, Angel," Cordelia said, "It's a good thing"

"I wonder if there's anything about this in the Nyazian scrolls," Angel said

"If you want, you head back home and grab them. I'm sure it'll keep Wesley occupied for the time being"

"You sure about that?"

"The contractions are few and far in between. You'll be what, five minutes?"

"Okay, I'll be right back then"

Angel kissed her on the lips, then headed out the door. He said a few things to the puzzled gang, before grabbing his blanket and heading out to the Plymouth. The sun was setting and the clouds were starting to darken. Angel could smell the rain on the horizon, as he drove back to the Hyperion. But what he found there was not he expected to see: there was bodies littered everywhere, all over the lobby

Kneeling next to one of the bodies, Angel saw the 'Wolfram and Hart' tag, before spying the small cage in the centre of the lobby, with a 'Baby' tag above the door. He growled and kicked the cage out of his sight, before heading towards the office

"Hello, Angelus"

Angel froze upon hearing that old, yet familiar voice. He slowly turned around on the spot to see Daniel Holtz standing at the base of the stairs, a small smile on his face

"Oh my God," Angel whispered

"I've been waiting for you," Holtz said

††††††††††

"Oh my God, they're kicking up," Cordelia cried, "Argh! These contractions are just as bad as the freaking visions!"

"Fred, get the midwife," Wesley said, "The birth is getting closer. I estimate the baby's arrival at about another two hours or so"

Fred hurried off to find a midwife, as Cordelia cried out in pain again

"What the hell is taking Angel so long?" she gritted out, "I swear I will _dust_ him if he misses his daughter's birth"

"Don't worry, Cordy, I'm sure Angel's fine," Wesley said, "He's probably caught up in traffic or something"

"It's been an hour since he left!"

"Oh, then I guess there is a cause for worry"

††††††††††


	10. Angel vs Holtz

††††††††††

"Oh my God," Angel said again

"You have no God, demon," Holtz said, stepping forth

Suddenly, forks appeared around Angel's neck and wrists, trapping him. He looked around, seeing the Grappler demons containing him

"I'm not like before," he said, "I'm different now"

"Really?"

Holtz splashed holy water onto his face, causing him to vamp out briefly in pain

"Okay, maybe I'm not. But seriously, Holtz, how'd you get here? You still smell human, so you're not a vampire. Had to be with black magic. And you're working with demons? You used to hang out with men"

"Hold your tongue, Angelus," Holtz warned, backhanding him

"It's Angel now. I'm not Angelus anymore"

"You're still the demon that mercilessly slaughtered my family"

"Hi there, am I interrupting anything?" Lilah asked from the doorway

"Who are you?" Holtz demanded

"Lilah Morgan, from Wolfram and Hart. And you are?"

"Daniel Holtz. So, I'm guessing you know Angelus?"

"Uh-huh yeah. My bosses are interested in him. The vampire with a soul who will play a part in the final apocalypse and yada, yada, yada, whatever"

"A soul? This demon has a soul?"

"Hey, Lilah," Angel called, "Duck"

He kicked up a grenade from a fallen soldier and pulled the pin with his teeth. Both Lilah and Holtz dived for cover, as the explosion blasted Angel through the elevator door and killing several Grappler demons. Angel made his way down to the sewers, coming up outside the Hyperion. Night had fallen and the rain was just starting to fall. He quickly got into the Plymouth and tore away back to the hospital

††††††††††

"Where – is – Angel?" Cordelia demanded

"I tried calling him, but got no answer," Fred said

Cordelia let out a groan and fell back against the bed. Nervous, Fred left the room and called for a midwife, as Wesley, Lorne and Gunn paced outside nervously

"I think the baby is coming now," Fred said

"And no sign of our champ," Lorne said, "Cordy's not gonna like this"

"I hope he's fine"

Meanwhile, Angel was tearing through the streets, trying to get back to the hospital in time for the birth, as the previous events flashed through his mind. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. He last remembered seeing Holtz back in Rome in 1764, after spending days being tortured by the hunter, until Darla rescued him. Angel tried to focus on the road, but his mind was flashing with images of Holtz. He then bared them from his mind by focusing solely on Cordelia and the baby, reaching the hospital within a matter of minutes, as the rain started to pick up

"Angel, is everything okay?" Wesley asked when the vampire burst inside

"Cordelia…how's it going?"

"You might or might not want to go in there," Gunn said, "She needs you, but at the same time, I think she's gonna kill you"

"I'll take that chance," Angel said

He strode into the room where Cordelia was grunting in pain, surrounded by doctors and midwives. He quickly rushed to her side, clasping her hand

"Glad – you made – it," Cordelia cried

"Are you the father?" asked a doctor

"I am," Angel replied, "How much longer now?"

"Won't be long now," the doctor replied, "I believe we're in the final stages now"

††††††††††

"Can I help you, sir?" the nurse asked

Holtz didn't answer. He simply looked around the hospital, before looking at the map, seeing where the maternity ward was. After Angel escaped, Holtz forced some information out of Lilah and learned where Angel would be heading. He then contacted Sahjahn for some help, before heading over to the hospital

"No, not at all," he finally replied, "I'll be seeing you"

Holtz turned and walked away, as the nurse returned to her desk. A few minutes later and she was screaming out, running from her desk, as a pick-up truck came crashing through the front doors. People went screaming and running, as the pick-up truck slammed into the far wall. A few seconds passed and the engine was still running

KA-BOOOOMMM!!!

Flames erupted from the truck, blasting through a few walls and ceilings. Most of the people had evacuated the building and only a few were caught in the explosion. The sprinklers came on to douse the flames as Holtz walked back into the burning hospital, a sword attached to his waist and a large crossbow in his hands as he made his way towards the maternity ward

††††††††††

"What the hell was that?" Gunn asked, getting to his feet

"Cordelia," Wesley cried, rushing into the room, "Get out of here," he cried to the doctors, "I'll handle this"

The doctors hurriedly left the room, as Wesley turned to Angel

"Who would be attacking us?"

"Daniel Holtz. Don't worry about that. Help Cordelia"

The sprinklers came on, dousing everything in water. Angel took off his coat and held it over Cordelia's head, as Fred, Lorne and Gunn entered the room

"Keep this over her body," Angel ordered, "I've got to go"

"Where to?" Lorne asked

He caught the dark look in Angel's eyes and left him alone, grabbing hold of the coat with Gunn and Fred, tending to Cordelia as Wesley attempted to deliver her child

††††††††††

Slowly and cautiously, Holtz made his way up the stairs. The hospital was virtually empty thanks to his mobile bomb and the sprinklers were still running as he turned a corner and moved down the corridor, his eyes trained ahead. Then came the low, threatening growl of a vampire to his left. That was the only warning he got, but that was all that he needed

Holtz whirled around, squeezing the trigger. The bolt slammed into the wall when Angel smacked the crossbow aside with one hand, his other hand swinging around to catch Holtz on the jaw. The hunter stumbled back, his back against the wall, barely ducking in time to avoid Angel's next blow. He gripped the sword hilt and drew fast, slashing wide. Angel jumped away from the blade, his shirt torn open, but his skin untouched, as his golden eyes blazed and he moved in again. Holtz sidestepped, slicing upwards, but Angel twisted around the blade, landing a kick on Holtz's chest

Keeping his footing, Holtz then dodged Angel's fist, noting that the vampire was attacking in rage and his fighting style was sloppy. Keeping this in mind, Holtz ducked under Angel's roundhouse kick, slicing upwards. Angel growled when his blood was splattered onto the wet floor and he grabbed Holtz's sword arm, embedding the blade into the wall, before punching him. Holtz reached into his coat, withdrawing a wooden stake and he held it ready, as Angel kept his distance

Resuming his human face, Angel moved in, dodging Holtz's punch and twisting inwards, driving his elbow into the hunter's solar plexus, winding him. As Holtz gasped for breath, Angel whirled around, delivering a backhand to his jaw, knocking him down. Holtz rose up, bringing his stake upwards, but Angel grabbed his arm, twisting it away, before grabbing him by the throat and lifted him up

"I am sorry for what I've done, Holtz," Angel said, "We can't change what happened. I have to live with it for the rest of my unlife"

"You took my life away," Holtz cried out, "You took away everything from me!"

"And nothing I can do will change that. I would continue this, maybe for your sake, but right now, I have more important matters to attend to"

"As do I and that's killing you and gaining my vengeance"

Just then, Angel's ears picked up the sound of a newborn baby crying. He threw Holtz aside, before racing off back to the maternity ward. Coughing, Holtz grabbed his crossbow, reloading the weapon, before heading off after the vampire

††††††††††


	11. The Miracle Child

††††††††††

Angel burst into the room, just the sprinklers finally died down. He looked towards the bed, seeing a moderately dry Cordelia sitting up in bed, a baby wrapped in a pink blanket nestled in her arms. Everyone else was soaked, while Connor was wearing his father's coat. Stunned at what he was seeing, Angel found himself by the bed, as Cordelia smiled at him, before handing their daughter over to him. Angel smiled, cradling his small daughter against his chest. Then he realized what was going and instantly snapped to action

"We have to leave, now"

"Angel, what's going on?" Wesley asked

"An old enemy of mine, Holtz, he's here to kill me. He's dangerous and we need to leave, like right now"

"But, Angelwings, Cordelia just gave birth," Lorne said, "It'll be hard to move her"

"Here, take her," Angel said, handing his daughter to Wesley, "Take her out to the car. I'll meet you guys there"

Wesley nodded and left, as Gunn picked Connor and followed after him with Fred and Lorne close behind him. Holtz turned the corner and saw them running off, before entering the room, just as Angel gently picked Cordelia up, one arm slung around his neck as he cradled her close to him. Holtz aimed the crossbow at him. They were at a standoff. Holtz could see how weak Cordelia was and how gently Angel was holding her. His finger itched to pull the trigger, but for some reason, he couldn't

"Do it now," came Sahjahn's voice, "Do it. Kill him!"

Holtz lowered his crossbow. He could see the pain in Cordelia's eyes. She needed care and the only person who could give it to her was Angel. The vampire gave Holtz the barest of perceivable nods and left the room, as Holtz watched him go

"You can't let him, not like that," Sahjahn raged, "Not after you swore to me!"

"I said I would show no mercy," Holtz said emotionlessly, "And I won't"

††††††††††

Angel and the others arrived back at the Hyperion, as the vampire quickly raced upstairs, gently placing Cordelia on their bed. She smiled weakly at him and kissed him on the cheek, as he settled himself beside her. Wesley arrived about a minute later, handing the baby girl over to her father, before leaving the room to give the new parents a moment together with their child

"She looks like you," Cordelia smiled

"No, I'd say you looks like you," Angel said, "She has your eyes"

The bedroom door opened, as Connor came in and climbed onto the bed

"Hey, buddy, say hi to your sister," Angel said, pulling his son in close

"Okay, you know what, I've got an idea," Cordelia said, "Before we continue with this, we all need to take showers and get changed. We're all wet"

She headed for the bathroom, as Angel, his daughter and Connor headed back downstairs – where Wesley and Gunn were waiting with grim looks on their faces

"I don't want to know," Angel said

"Fraid you do," Gunn said, "We've got demons waiting for us outside. Luckily, Lorne's on the case, getting the Furies to put a shield up around the hotel"

Angel headed to the hotel door, seeing the mass of demons standing on the streets, held back by the quick protection spell Lorne had the Furies conjure up for them

"Cordy is going to hate this," he muttered

Just then, Cordelia came downstairs and took her daughter from Angel's arms, heading over into the office to give themselves some privacy and luckily didn't notice the tension surrounding the occupants. Fred took Connor upstairs for his bath, as Angel, Wesley and Gunn huddled together, trying to come up with a plan. And it fell to Angel to tell Cordelia about their situation. Grimacing, he entered the office, as Cordelia looked up from her baby girl

"Uh, we have a problem," he said

Ten minutes later and Angel had his daughter wrapped up in his arms, leaving through the basement to his car. As he took off in the Plymouth, the demons, as well as Wolfram and Hart operatives, took off after him in their own vehicles

"I seriously don't like this," Angel muttered, hanging a hard left turn, "Oh, your mother is so gonna kill me for this"

Angel kept driving, pursued by the demons that wanted the 'miracle child' for their own needs. Angel couldn't understand why they were coming after his daughter and yet never made an attempt for Connor. Then he rationalised it was because Connor was completely human, while Angel's daughter was a half-vampire and as such, her birth should have been impossible due to her nature. Hell, even her conception wasn't supposed to happen. Not that Angel really cared. He now had two children, something he thought was impossible and yet it wasn't. But right now, he was trying to protect his newborn daughter

Angel kept driving out of town, before coming to an abandoned mine. He hurriedly got out of the car and ran down into the mine, keeping his daughter shielded as he ran towards the door barring the mines, but couldn't open in time when the demons and operatives arrived, blocking off his exit

"Hand over the baby," the operative leader ordered

"Okay, sure, take her"

Angel tossed the baby to the operative, before swiftly leaving the area, using a rope and pulley to get him out of the mine, as the demons were busy tearing the blanket away, revealing a teddy bear. And attached to the teddy bear was nothing more than a timer attached to the small explosives

KA-BOOM!!

Angel smiled to himself as he got back into the Plymouth, spinning the wheels, before racing off into the night, heading back into Los Angeles

††††††††††

"I'm happy to report you have a healthy baby girl," the doctor said

"Thank you very much," Cordelia smiled, taking her daughter back

"Well, her height and weight are in the ninety percentile. We gave her her vitamin K and her PKU and she's doing very well. We don't seem to have her - what's her name?"

"Ashleigh Chloe Chase," Angel said, coming into the room

"Well, congratulations, Mr Angel," said the doctor, "Ashleigh Chloe Chase-Angel"

He smiled and left the room, as Angel and Cordelia huddled around their daughter. Wesley picked Connor up so he could get a better look at his sister, as Gunn arrived in the room, pushing a stroller along. Angel smiled as he placed his daughter into the stroller. Cordelia took hold of his hand, Connor sitting on her hip, as the gang left the room, heading back to the hotel as a family

"So, are we safe?" Cordelia asked later that night after putting their children to bed

"Yeah, we're safe for now," Angel replied, kissing her, "No one will be coming after Ashleigh or Connor for that matter"

"What about Holtz?"

"I'll deal with him when the time comes. For now, I'd say he's laying low"

††††††††††

_The next night..._

Holtz watched from the shadow of a tree as the young, orange-haired woman clad in a leather jacket battled against the vampire. He was impressed to see that she was able to hold her own, but since she was under the influence of alcohol, she was losing the battle, getting thrown onto her back as the vampire descended. Holtz intervened at the last minute, staking the vampire through the heart and helping her to her feet

"What do you want?" Justine Cooper demanded

"I need your help," Holtz replied, "In destroying a vampire"

"So? Go kill him yourself then. Why do you need me for?"

"This vampire is no ordinary vampire. He is a very powerful vampire. Look, Justine, I know what its like to lose someone very close to you. Trust me, I know"

"You know nothing, apart from my name" Justine said, "So leave me alone"

"The police report was inconclusive, wasn't it? How did it feel not to have justice for the death of your twin sister? You spend your days sleeping and drinking and your nights killing vampires"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Justine asked, whirling around

"I'm here to offer you a choice," Holtz said, "I'm here to give your life purpose"

††††††††††


	12. Happy Birthday Cordelia

††††††††††

_Two weeks later…_

Cordelia woke up and got out of bed, checking on Ashleigh on her way to the bathroom. There, she stripped down and got into the shower, enjoying the warm water washing over her and waking her up

"Angel! Bring Ashleigh," she called after washing herself

Angel soon entered the bathroom, dressed only in slacks as he handed an awakening Ashleigh to Cordelia. She kissed him, before washing her daughter's tiny body. Meanwhile, Angel headed to his son's room and gently woke up him, before heading downstairs where everyone else had gathered

"So, we all ready?" he asked, a sleepy Connor in his arms

"Yeah, we're ready," Fred grinned

Upstairs, Cordelia dried Ashleigh and herself off, before placing the baby on the bed and getting dressed, then dressing Ashleigh in a nappy and a pink singlet, then heading downstairs, surprise washing over her

"Happy birthday, Cordy!" everyone cried

"Oh my God, guys, thanks so much!" Cordelia cried

"Come on, blow out the cake," Gunn grinned

He and Wesley brought the cake over to Cordelia and she smiled at the image of Wonder Woman iced on the top. She blew out the candles and smiled, as Angel pulled her into a one-armed hug and kissed her

"Happy birthday, honey," he smiled

"And look, we've got presents!" Wesley smiled

"Ooh, pressies," Cordelia grinned, "Angel, take Ashleigh"

"You're choosing presents over our daughter?"

"Take Ashleigh!"

Angel handed Connor to Gunn, before grabbing Ashleigh, just as Cordelia seized up, caught in a vision and then suddenly, she was thrown back by an invisible force, smashing against the weapons cabinet and falling down into a comatose state

"Cordy!" Angel cried

He rushed to her side and gently shook her, trying to wake her up

"I'm okay," Cordelia said, waking up

She sat up and looked around, seeing that no one was around her. They were all crouched around…her? Cordelia got to her feet and looked down at herself, surrounded by her family. Angel was panicking, as was Connor and finally, the vampire picked Cordelia's body up, before heading upstairs to their room

"Oh god, am I a ghost?" Cordelia asked, "Am I dead?"

The next few hours passed slowly. Cordelia was bored. She was unable to interact with the physical world and she desperately needed to tell Angel about her vision. She also wanted to hold her baby daughter, to snuggle up to her, but couldn't. Angel stayed vigil by the bed, watching Cordelia's prone form, only moving when Ashleigh needed attention. Bored, Cordelia went downstairs, reading over Wesley's shoulder as he slowly flicked through his books, trying to find a reason for her state

"Astral projection?" Cordelia said, "Hope you figure it out soon, Wes"

She went back upstairs, just as Gunn and Fred were showing something to Angel, something she didn't want him to see

"X-rays?" Angel said, "Of what? Wesley!"

The former Watcher came upstairs, as Angel handed him the X-rays

"Hm. This shows deterioration of her brain tissues over time. And it's getting worse"

"She's dying," Angel said, as it clicked into place

"Yes, but I don't know how much longer she's got," Wesley said, "I'm guessing maybe another month. Two at the most. That's my best guess"

"Alright, all of you guys leave, please"

Wesley, Gunn and Fred left the room, as Angel clasped the prone Cordelia's hand

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" he asked, "We trust each other. We love each other. Why did you go behind my back with this?"

"I didn't want you to worry," Cordelia's astral form replied, "But now you know and you're worrying. Great, let's upset the kids now"

"Our kids, they're too young to understand. Especially Ashleigh. She's only two weeks old. How do you think she's gonna feel when she grows up without her mother?"

"Well, gee, I didn't exactly plan on having Ashleigh. But there's nothing you can do about it, Angel. I'm gonna die. This time, you can't save me"

"I'm gonna save you, Cordy," Angel said, "I don't care what it takes. Even if I have to go to Hell and back, I'm bringing you back. I'm gonna save you"

Angel got up and left the room, as Cordelia sighed and started pacing before the bed. On her third turn, she got the shock of her life when she saw a demon before her. He was tall and imposing, clad in silver armour, his red eyes grinning at her

"Hi, I'm Death"

"You're…Death? You've come to take me away?"

To her surprise, the demon burst out laughing and mimicked wiping tears away

"Nah, I'm kidding. The name's Skip and – this is you?" he asked, looking at her prone form, "Wow, you're really confident. Some people like to lose the grey hairs or some weight when they astral project"

"So, what do you want me with?" Cordelia asked

"I'm here to offer you a choice," Skip replied, "Wanna see what that is?"

He held out his hand in a non-threatening gesture. Cordelia sighed. It couldn't hurt, right? It sure as hell beat walking around where no one could hear her. Her hand trembled slightly as she reached out and took his

A second later, she found herself standing in the middle of an empty mall

"The mall?" she asked

"We thought you'd be more comfortable here," Skip replied, "The Powers That Be anyway. And it's not really a mall. It's kinda like the Matrix"

"You've seen the Matrix?"

"Love that flick! When Trinity's all 'dodge this' and the agent-"

Cordelia sighed in boredom

"-And I'm not installing any awe anymore, am I? Alright, come over here then"

Cordelia joined Skip by the information screen, as an image appeared. It showed her and Doyle's one and only kiss aboard the ship, just before his sacrificial jump. This time, she saw the blue light that passed from Doyle to her

"There it is, the big cosmic whoops," Skip said, "Doyle was never meant to give you those visions. But the Powers That Be didn't count on his love for you"

"Doyle loved me?"

"Now, see the thing is, demons are the only ones powerful enough to handle the visions. Humans can't"

"But I've had them for two years," Cordelia, "Doesn't that mean I'm strong?"

"Strong, yes. Demon, no. Now, check this out"

This time, the image changed to the party where Cordelia first met Angel in Los Angeles. She smiled as she watched herself interact with the vampire, thinking of the two beautiful kids they had together

"This is where your whole life changes," Skip said, "Now, we can take away the visions, but only if you don't meet Angel"

"And what happens to me then?" Cordelia asked

"Well, if you don't meet Angel, this agent here will spot you and come down. From there, the rest is history, as you'll become a wealthy and famous actress"

"So, you're saying I'm meant to be an actress?"

"I can see you're thinking this all over. But really think it through, Cordelia. You stay as you are, one more vision and you'll be dead with a hole in your head"

Skip then transported Cordelia to a large room with sandy floors. A large block sat in the centre with a small flame burning, as Angel paced the room, yelling at the top of his voice to someone. Cordelia realized that he couldn't see her or Skip

"Take the visions back, now!" Angel cried

"You don't understand-" started a voice

"No, you don't understand! Cordelia can't handle them. She's not strong enough for these visions. She's just a little former cheerleader from Sunnydale-"

"Skip, take me away," Cordelia said, hurt by Angel's words, "Change it all"

Skip nodded and pressed his hand to her forehead, as she closed her eyes and her whole world began to swim around her head

"I'm more afraid of her dying than she is," Angel continued, the tears starting to appear, "Don't let our kids grow up without their mother"

Cordelia opened her eyes and gasped when she saw the audience before her. She was on stage, on her very own chat show and she smiled as the audience applauded her

††††††††††


	13. Cordelia's Life Decision

††††††††††

Cordelia smiled as she walked away from the stage, having completed her show and getting such a buzz. On the way out, she met a few fans and did some autographs, before heading towards her trailer, her assistant, Nev, by her side

"Okay, there are stars and there are stars and then there is you," he said

"Oh, you're so sweet, Nev. Am I paying you enough?"

"As a matter of fact"

"Good, what's cooking? God, I want something. Hypo-something. Hypothermia?"

Nev on the phone in an instant, calling for a tub of ice water

"No, that's not it. Hyper... hyperbaric?"

Nev cancelled the ice water and called for an oxygen tent, but Cordelia dismissed that as well, as she ran through the mental list, trying to find what she wanted. She couldn't understand why she had this sudden need for something

"Hyperion! That's it!" Cordelia cried

"The hotel?" Nev asked

"Yes. I wanna go there"

"But it's been closed for fifty years. Why do you want to go there?"

"Nev, I am going there and that's final. Go handle my fans"

"As you wish"

Nev headed off, as Cordelia looked around, before leaving the studio, making her way over towards the Hyperion hotel. However, on the way over, she was so caught up in her thoughts, that she accidentally bumped into a young girl

"Oh my God, you're Cordelia Chase?" the girl cried, "I'm your biggest fan!"

"Do you want an autograph?" Cordelia asked, "I can give you one"

"I was wondering you want to come around, that's all," the girl said, "I've got something that I really want to show you, since you're cool and all"

"Well…okay then, let's go"

Cordelia followed the girl to her home and entered, seeing the magical pentagram on the ground and instantly felt a shiver of worry running down her spine

"My dad walked out and I'm trying to bring him back," the girl said, "Hopefully, if everything goes right, my dad will be back"

"Uh, I don't think this is a good idea," Cordelia said

"Oh, it's totally safe," the girl said, before starting to chant

However, instead of her father returning, a massive demon with numerous eyes and mouths appeared in the room, growling and roaring. Cordelia felt a flash of recognition, but pushed it aside, as she grabbed the nearby lamp and smashed it against the demon's head. It growled and spun around, knocking her down. At that moment, the door burst open, as Wesley and Gunn stepped inside. Instantly seeing the threat, the pair had it contained and killed the demon within a matter of minutes

"Wesley?" Cordelia said in surprise once the battle was over

The Wesley she knew wasn't the same person from Sunnydale. He had short, cropped hair and a five o'clock beard, but it was the missing left arm she noticed

"What happened to your arm?" she asked, getting to her feet

"Kungai demon," Wesley replied, "Cordelia? What are you doing in LA?"

"This is Cordelia Chase," Gunn said, "She's the star of her own talk show. Don't you ever watch the TV?"

"I'm surprised you do," Wesley retorted, "Cordelia, this is my associate, Charles Gunn. Don't mind the scar"

"Chicks dig it," Gunn grinned, proud of his facial scar, "Hey, I think Wes used to talk about you, Barbie. Didn't you guys, like kiss or something?"

"That horrible kiss where he drooled all over my chin?" Cordelia asked, "Trying so hard to repress it with occasional success"

"Right, well, as much as I am enjoying this forced death march down memory lane, let's head back, shall we?" Wesley asked

"What is it with you Sunnydale folk and repression?" Gunn asked, "The three of you are the most denying-est folks around"

"Three of us?" Cordelia asked, "Who else is here?"

"Angel," Wesley replied grimly

††††††††††

The trio arrived back at the Hyperion Hotel, as Wesley led the way upstairs to the dimly lit corridor and stopping before a door so he could take the key off the hook and unlocked the door before him. As soon as light entered the room, Angel scurried away from it, rising up on his feet, whilst muttering crazily under his breath

"Couldn't save them…couldn't save them all…no, no, no"

"What happened to him?" Cordelia asked

"Angel was on his own for a while, until a half-demon called Doyle arrived," Wesley explained, "When Doyle died, he passed the visions onto Angel. He's been harbouring them on his own for a while until I arrived"

"The visions have pretty much driven him insane," Gunn added, "Sometimes he sends us out to save people he killed two hundred years ago"

"Angel?" Cordelia asked gently, stepping into the room

"Careful, Cordelia," Wesley said, "The visions make him unpredictable. There have been times when we've had to chain him up for his own safety"

"Angel, it's me, Cordelia"

Angel shrank away from her, huddling against the corner, sinking against the wall, still muttering and drawing on the wall with his finger

"Angel, please, don't you remember me?"

"I couldn't save them," Angel muttered rapidly, "I couldn't save them"

"It's okay. It's gonna be okay"

Cordelia was kneeling before the vampire, her heart breaking at the sight of him. He rubbed his palm over to the wall, clearly having lost his sanity thanks to the vision

"It's okay. It's gonna be okay," Cordelia said

She then leaned forward and pressed her lips to Angel's. He stopped fidgeting, as a blue light passed from his lips to hers. Cordelia drew back, seeing that Angel was frozen in time. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the same had happened to Wesley and Gunn. Then, her memories hit her and she realized what was going on

"I remember everything," she said, getting up

Skip had appeared in the room, standing solemnly beside Gunn

"We had a deal. Your new life in exchange for the visions," Skip said, "Call me crazy, but I thought that was a pretty good deal"

"I need the visions and the visions need me," Cordelia said, "I'm the only one"

"We've been over this. You can't handle the visions. I get you're trying to be all noble and heroic and all that Russell Crowe Gladiator crap"

"You saw-?"

"Didn't like it," Skip replied shortly, "One more vision and you'll die in your sleep. Your kids will never have a mother and-"

"Well, I'm meant to have them," Cordelia said, "And if the Powers That Be aren't stupid, they know it too. Surely, there must be some kind of loophole"

"There is one way," Skip replied, "Not to be taken lightly. You become half-demon. No idea what the side effects will be, but you'll be able to handle the visions"

"What are we waiting for? Demonise me already"

She closed her eyes, as Skip sighed and pressed his hand to her forehead

††††††††††

Cordelia gasped as she woke up, sitting upright in bed. Angel jumped to his feet, pulling her into a hug, as she sighed contently and hugged him back, before suddenly pushing him away and feeling around her body

"No horns. No tail. Excellent"

"Cordy, are you okay?" Angel asked

"Perfectly fine," Cordelia smiled, getting out of bed

"What happened here?" Wesley asked, walking into the room

"No idea," Angel replied, "She just woke up. Everything okay?"

"Fine. Now we just have to worry about my vision"

"Uh, what vision? The one you had before going all comatose?" Gunn asked

"No, not that one. The one I'm having right now," Cordelia replied

"Uh, Cordelia?" Angel said in slight shock, looking at her feet

"What?" she asked, floating about half a foot in the air

††††††††††


	14. Money, Money, Money

††††††††††

"There we go," Wesley said, "Six hundred of these are out on the streets"

"Excellent," Angel grinned, holding Ashleigh, "Everything up and ready?"

"We've got our own web page," Fred said, "It's running"

"Great. Now, all we do is wait for the phone to ring and the money to roll in"

"Just so you all know," Cordelia said, "This wasn't my idea"

"Why does that come as a surprise to me?" Wesley asked

Cordelia whacked him over the head, before handing Connor a sandwich, as Angel, Fred and Gunn all stood before the phone, waiting for it to ring. After about ten minutes, Fred picked up one of the flyers and peered closely at it

"Is this the right number?"

Everyone turned to look at Wesley, as Gunn slapped him upside the head

††††††††††

"Okay, everything has been corrected and another six hundred of these babies are out on the street…again," Gunn said, coming into the hotel

He sat down at the counter, just as the phone beside him rang. He answered it, as another phone rang, which Wesley answered, as Cordelia answered the third phone

"This is great," Angel smiled, "College fund for you and Connor coming right up," he cooed to Ashleigh

"Where is Connor by the way?" Cordelia asked, covering the mouthpiece

"He's upstairs with Lorne," Fred replied, "Here they come right now"

"Doesn't he look smart and presentable?" Lorne grinned

For some reason, Lorne had dressed Connor in an outfit similar to Angel's, including the small leather jacket. Cordelia gushed at her son, as Connor tried to flatten his hair

"Why did you do that?" Angel asked, looking at his son

"Big champ and little champ," Lorne said, "Puts out good vibes to the helpless"

And there was no shortage of helpless people or others in need of services. The hotel was packed, while Cordelia and Fred were on the phone. Angel, Lorne, Wesley and Gunn were walking around, making acquaintances, while Connor ran amongst the humans and demons, before getting bored and heading over to his toys. Wesley was talking to some silver-masked and robed demons with Lorne, while Gunn had gone into the office with a client

"Wow, it's a madhouse," Angel said

"Yeah, so think you can make it less of a madhouse by answering those lines?" Cordelia asked, before turning back to her phone

Cradling Ashleigh in one arm, Angel answered line four. Within a minute, he had an address and placed his daughter into her mother's arms, before racing off

"It's an exciting arena," Wesley said to the demons, after talking about DNA Fusion Comparisons and Tri-ped Demon Populations

"But one I'm sure we can all download at: I'll-never-know-the-love-of-a-woman-dot-com. Can we get down to business?," Lorne said, "It's their prince's birthday and-"

At that moment, Fred arrived, staring at their robes, which consisted of mathematical elements. She leaned in close, studying the puzzle hard, as a smile appeared

"See this polygons? They're pieces of a mathematical puzzle," she smiled, "You add them all up and-"

By then, the Nahdrah demons were speaking amongst themselves in their native tongue, which consisted of clicks, and then they hurriedly left the hotel

"Did I piss them off?" Fred asked

"Either they had to consort with someone or eat a monkey brain," Lorne said, "Did I ever mention I wasn't that great with the language"

"Wes, I'm gonna need you on this," Gunn called, followed by Allie

††††††††††

Angel arrived at the building, coming across a young man seated at the desk, speaking on the phone via the wireless headpiece, finishing his call when he saw Angel

"Harlen Elster?" Angel asked

"You must be Angel, correct?" Harlen asked, shaking his hand, "I'm in need for your services. See, there's a nest of vampires downtown that are attacking our clients"

"I'll clean them up for you, but you know I have a price?"

"Of course, Mr Angel. How does ten thousand dollars sound, five before and the other five once you've done the job"

Harlen was writing out a cheque as he spoke, handing the cheque to Angel

"Uh, yeah, sure, sounds great," Angel grinned

He left the office, as an older man came from another office

"Mr Elster?" said the impostor

"What are you doing here?" the real Harlen Elster asked

The impostor promptly cracked him across the jaw, knocking him out. Meanwhile, Angel arrived back at the Hyperion, grinning at the cheque, as Connor ran to him, wrapping his arms around his legs

"Hey, bud, you been good for Mommy while I was gone?" Angel asked, picking his son up onto his shoulders

Cordelia was in the office, gently rocking Ashleigh to sleep, as Lorne came stumbling into the hotel, clearly drunk as he made his way over to the counter

"Can't you hold your drink?" Cordelia asked, moving Ashleigh to her shoulder

"I sure can. Shame I can't say the same about my firewhiskey," Lorne grimaced, "Angelcakes! I got news for you on our buddy, Holtz"

"Yeah, what is he up to?" Angel asked, taking his coat off and joining Connor by his building blocks, "Oh man, Lorne, wash your breath. I can smell you from here"

"Yeah, I'll trundle upstairs and pass out later, but right now: Holtz. Word's on the street is he's killed off his demon friends and is creating a human army"

"Let me guess, all just for me. Oh, how wonderful is that?"

"Good luck"

Lorne headed for the stairs, but then, the Nahdrah demons arrived, one of them carrying a large silver briefcase, as Fred came downstairs

"Oh, you guys are back," Lorne said, "What's up this time?"

He listened to the clicks, before translating for the others

"They weren't offended by Fred, they were amazed by her. They wanna buy her head…for their prince. Uh, I mean, they want her intelligence. They've got a puzzle for their prince and they hope we accept their paltry offer of…FIFTT THOUSAND DOLLARS?"

"Fifty?" Fred said

"Thousand," Cordelia added

"Dollars?" Angel finished, before grabbing the briefcase, "We accept!"

Fred and Lorne left with the Nahdrah demons, as Angel turned to Cordelia

"Check it out, five thousand dollars to clean out a vamp nest and another five thousand when the job's done"

"Angel, all this money and work is a great idea," Cordelia said, "But you've got to slow down and think of all that around you. You've got two kids to take care of"

"I know. That's why I'm doing this. For Connor and Ashleigh"

"Think about the mission, not the money. The mission is what is important"

"I know, Cordelia, but we do need it"

"I get that, but you need to focus on the mission before it's lost"

"Alright then"

Angel grabbed his coat, before grabbing a few stakes and heading out, as Cordelia continued rocking Ashleigh, as Connor started to yawn

"I think someone needs a change," Cordelia said

She laid Ashleigh down on the changing table and changed her nappy and placed her into her bassinet, before picking up Connor and taking him to his room. just as she closed the door and headed back down the stairs, she got a vision. And she was glad she was now half-demon, as there was no pain involved in the vision

_Fred was completing a pyramid shaped puzzle. Then, she's tied down to a chair with a brace over her throat to indicate where the sword should cut…_

"Oh God, Fred," Cordelia said, "Don't solve that puzzle"

She grabbed the phone and tried to call Wesley and Gunn, but got no answer. She then tried Angel, but got the same result, then wondered why she even bothered trying to call him. He couldn't even work his cell phone. Sighing, she tried to call Piper to mind the children, but once again, got no answer

"Well, she is allowed to have a life. Even if we really kinda can't"

Heading upstairs, Cordelia woke Connor up, before taking Ashleigh in one hand and the briefcase of money in the other, then leaving the hotel

"Well, we'll just head over and give them their money back," Cordelia said to her children, "Tell them it was all a misunderstanding. Though it would be nice to have Angel around, but your father is useless with modern technology. Sometimes being so old like him doesn't help"

††††††††††


	15. Hustle, Cash and Flow

††††††††††

Angel arrived back at the office, finding a middle-aged man sporting a bruise on his jaw. The vampire had just killed the nests three occupants and was now back to collect his payment, wanting to get back home to Cordelia

"Where's Harlen Elster?"

"I'm Harlen Elster"

"Then, who was the other guy? He gave me this," Angel said, showing the cheque

"Sam Ryan? Well, he gave me this. At least mine's real. I fired the guy about six months ago. His friend died. Sam believes it was 'vampires'"

"Right then," Angel said, tearing up the cheque and turning away

"He believed they had a nest downtown with hidden treasure," Harlen said

"Wait. Hidden treasure?"

††††††††††

Fred smiled as she slid the last piece of the puzzle into place, watching as it glowed brightly. The Nahdrahs clicked and applauded, before lifting Fred to her feet

"Oh, are we going somewhere? Have you seen my friend? Green skin, red horns. He's not feeling well. I'm starting to worry"

Fred was taken into another room, seeing Lorne lying bound on the floor

"Really worrying now," she said

The Nahdrahs placed Fred into a chair, locking her wrists and neck in place, as she then saw the Nahdrah prince and she gulped. He was unmasked and hideous looking. Fred gulped again when she saw a photo off her head placed over the top of the prince's head. She knew what was coming next, especially when she saw the sword

"Now, I'm worrying greatly," Fred said

"Ahem"

The Nahdrahs turned around to face Cordelia, who was holding a briefcase in one hand, while gently rocking Ashleigh with the other. Connor was partially standing behind her, one hand gripping the hem of her shirt

"I believe there is a mistake," Cordelia said, "Because, we need Fred. All of Fred, completely intact and preferably alive. Let's do an exchange. Money for Fred"

Lorne translated to the demons, as they growled and stepped forth menacingly

"Uh, what did you tell them?" Cordelia asked worriedly

"I told them that we are surrounded by warriors who will kick their asses if they don't release Fred right now"

"We can't-"

"Angel, Wes and Gunn can handle these guys. Where are they?"

"Out making money," Cordelia replied, starting to back away from the demons

"Oh. We're screwed," Lorne said

"You think?" Fred asked

††††††††††

Sam Ryan was going through the small pieces of jewellery and other belongings, when someone suddenly trapped his arm behind his back, while taking a watch from him at the same time

"Hey, give that back"

"So, a Timex," Angel said, "What does it do? Open a portal to the armies of hell?"

"Glows in the dark. About all it can do now"

"Probably worth around ten grand. Recompensation"

"Look, man, I'm sorry about what I did, but I had to. These things killed my friend. I had no one else to turn to for help"

"So you lied to me," Angel said, "I've got two kids, alright and the missus _isn't_ gonna be pleased about this at all"

"I'll make it up to you, I swear"

Suddenly, growling could be heard, as Angel quickly slammed the door and leaned against it, just as the first of the vampires slammed against it

"I'm sure we can work something out. Car?"

"Bank took it. I don't think I've got anything else I can give you," Sam replied, before leaning against the door with Angel

Angel let out an annoyed sigh, before walking away from the door

"Hey, I can't hold this on my own"

"You do a job, you expect to get paid," Angel said, snapping off a piece of wood

He pushed Sam aside and opened the door, staking the first vampire that entered. His friend moved around the dust and aimed a kick at Angel's head, but he ducked and swept, staking the vampire swiftly, before rising up and punching the last two vampires, venting his annoyance out on them. He finally staked them both, before storming out of the nest, as his phone started ringing

"Thanks, man. I _owe _you" Sam called

"Yeah, yeah. Hello? Hello? Stupid thing, hello?"

"I think that's your voice message"

"Damn"

††††††††††

Cordelia continued backing away, before stepping forth and kicking one of the Nahdrahs in the groin – pain shooting up her shin. The Nahdrah simply stared at her, as she backed away, shielding Connor with her body. But at that moment, Wesley and Gunn burst into the room, brandishing their weapons. Having taken care of the stalking zombie, they had gotten Cordelia's voice message and raced over as fast as they could. Now, they were battling against the Nahdrahs, holding their own against the masked demons. One of the demons had had enough and raised his sword towards Fred's neck, as she let out a scream

"Fred!" the two men cried at once

Wesley grabbed the briefcase containing the fifty thousand dollars and threw it, cleanly knocking the prince's head off his shoulders. The followers simply looked at the head, before looking back at the men

"You cut the head off the snake," Wesley said

"You piss the other snakes off," Gunn finished

The Nahdrahs stepped menacingly towards the men, when the skylight shattered and Angel came falling into the room. As soon as he landed on his feet, Angel was dishing out blows left, right and centre. Nahdrahs fell around him, as Wesley and Gunn joined in, taking the rest of the demons out. Once the demons were down, Wesley and Gunn released Fred from the chair, as Angel untied Lorne and helped him up, before taking Ashleigh into his arms, as Cordelia kissed him on the cheek

"Guys, can I say something? Money's important…but it isn't everything. I got... I got carried away. I just never had a life that was totally dependent on me before, especially two little lives. But that's no excuse. Where was I?" Angel said

"Money's not the most important," Cordelia started

"No, it's not. What's important is family ... and the mission"

The group stared at the pile of money lying before them. Fifty thousand dollars

"They tried to cut Fred's head off," Cordelia said, "We earned every penny"

"Hold the baby," Angel said

Cordelia took her daughter back, as her son stood beside her. Everyone else fell upon the money, stashing them in their pockets. At one point, Gunn even sniffed the bills and let out a small contended sigh, before stashing more of the cash

††††††††††

Later that night…

Angel, Cordelia, Connor and Ashleigh were all lying on the queen bed, the parents on the outside of the bed with the children between them. Angel had his arm lying across Connor's sleeping body, his hand holding Ashleigh's foot as she sucked on her bottle next to Cordelia, who was slowly drifting off to sleep

"Okay…college fund…and a boat"

"What am I gonna do with a boat?" Angel asked, just as sleepily

"Moonlight sails. Gotta have some fun in our lives"

"We have enough fun as it is"

"Okay then…college fund for two…and rent a ski condo in Aspen"

"Hmm, I'd like a ski condo"

"Chipmunk robots on ice"

"Chipmunk robots…on ice?"

Angel opened his eyes slightly to continue with the absurdity of that comment, but he smiled when he saw that Cordelia had fallen asleep and Ashleigh's eyes were starting to droop now she had finished her bottle. With the smile still in place and his son snuggling up against his chest, Angel closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep

††††††††††


	16. Night at the Ballet

††††††††††

"Mata Hari is the best in the world," Gunn grinned, "These guys are tight and you're gonna be tripping when you see them"

Angel arrived at the hotel and handed the tickets over to Gunn, who took them out of the envelope and grinned with glee. But then, the grin faded away

"This is not Mata Hari. This is tickets to a ballet"

"It's the production of Giselle," Angel said, "I saw this back in 1890 and I cried like a baby. And I was evil!"

"But…but…ballet? It's guys in tight clothing with their packages bouncing up and down. Oh man, this is just…the trust is gone," Gunn continued

"Gunn, these guys are tight and you're gonna be tripping when you see them"

"Don't be using my words when we've lost the trust"

"Do we get dressed up?" Cordelia asked from her desk, Ashleigh by her side

"Of course we do," Angel replied

"I'm in"

Gunn sighed and flopped onto the couch, resuming playing with his GameBoy, as Cordelia smirked at him and continued working away on the computer

"Did you get the tickets?" Wesley asked Angel, coming out of the office to pour himself some coffee

"He got them alright," Gunn replied sullenly, "To see 'Giselle'. A ballet"

"Excuse me? But what happened to Mata Hari"

"Isn't there anybody on my side?" Angel asked, "Ballet is like another world"

"I'm on your side here," Cordelia replied, "Simply because we get dressed up"

"I'm also on your side," Fred added, "I would love to see the ballet"

"Good, it's settled. Three to two, majority overrules"

††††††††††

_The next night…_

The night of the ballet had arrived and Fred was busy trying to coax Gunn to come out from hiding in the office. She was dressed up nicely in a shimmering red dress

"You promise not to laugh?" he asked

"I promise. Now come out"

Gunn walked out, dressed in a tuxedo. Fred brought her hands to her mouth to stopped herself from laughing, then lowered them

"Wow, Charles, you look great"

He brightened up, as Wesley arrived, laying a shawl across Fred's shoulders

"You look stunning," he said to her

Fred blushed and smiled. Meanwhile, Angel was in his room, as Lorne tried in vain to remove the drool stain from the back of his jacket

"Little Ash burps like a champ," Lorne grinned, "I got most of it"

"Thanks, Lorne," Angel replied, before taking a small box out of his jacket

"For me, Angelwings? Oh really, you shouldn't have"

"It's not for you. It's for Cordelia"

He opened the box to reveal the engagement ring sitting inside

"Oh, that's definitely gonna knock her off her feet. And if that doesn't, what else will? So, when are you planning on the proposal? After the ballet?"

"Yeah. It'll be great. She'll love the ballet and afterwards, it happens"

"Well, you two have gone through a lot in the last few years," Lorne said, "And look at the outcome so far: two beautiful kids. She'll say yes for sure"

"What'll I say yes to?"

Angel hastily stuffed the box back into his coat, before turning around to face Cordelia, his jaw dropping when he saw her. Wearing a stunning magenta dress with a plunging V-neckline, Cordelia looked like a goddess, her hair piled up on top in a bunch of curls, gold eyeliner and dangling earrings completing the look. If Angel had a breath, he would have lost it when he saw her

"You look good yourself," Cordelia smiled

She crossed the room, as Lorne grinned and watched the two. Cordelia fixed up Angel's bowtie, his arms wrapping around her waist

"And how are our little ones?" she asked, "Asleep?"

"They're out like a light," Lorne replied, "And if one of them so much as peeps, I'll chloroform them"

Angel and Cordelia simply gave him a strange look

"Parents. Never with the humour," Lorne huffed, before leaving the room

"Well then, shall we?" Cordelia asked

"We shall," Angel replied

Arm in arm, the couple headed downstairs, joining the others, before leaving the hotel, as Lorne waved them off, then headed upstairs to the kids room. The gang arrived at the ballet and took their seats, as the lights started to dim

"This is a nice spot," Cordelia said, "See all the action"

"Back in the day, I had box seats," Angel said, "Or ate whoever had them"

The production started up and the first of the dancers came out on stage. Within minutes, Cordelia had fallen asleep, her head resting on Angel's shoulders, as Gunn leaned forward, a smile on his face, intrigued by the performance. Soon, the first act was over, as the lights came on and the applause rang out

"I loved it," Cordelia cried, snapping awake and clapping

"It's only intermission," Angel replied, "Come on"

The group filed out with the rest of the audience

"Man, that was so cool," Gunn said, "It was awesome," then off everybody's blank looks, "I was cool before I met you lot"

"Has much changed?" Wesley asked Angel

"No"

"Well, that's good then"

"No, I mean, nothing _has _changed. The actors are still the same ones from 1890. So why are we still seeing the actors who should have died sixty years ago?"

"Got me stumped there," Cordelia said

"You guys go back," Angel said, "I'm gonna snoop around backstage"

"I'm with snoopy," Cordelia offered, "Magic of ballet? Not getting to me"

"How will the dancers keep in time with your rhythmic snoring?" Wesley quipped

Cordelia glared at him, before following after Angel, as the trio returned to the ballet. Backstage, Angel knocked out the guard and entered, surprised at what they saw. The corridor stretched on endlessly. Looking back, Angel and Cordelia saw that the door had disappeared, the corridor stretching on endlessly behind them

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Cordelia asked, "Let's break this magic"

She led the way through the corridors, coming across a door and entering the room. Angel entered after her, looking around the place. They were in the room that belonged to the main actress and it was quite large

"Wow, look at this," Cordelia said

She headed to the vanity table and picked up a necklace with a cross on it. Angel stood behind her, as she rose up and faced him, suddenly kissing him on the lips

"He's too powerful for us," she said, "We can't escape him, Stefan"

"We can and we will. Just come with me," Angel said, "We'll be free forever"

They kissed again, as Cordelia brought her hand to Angel's cheek, the cross in her hand. He hissed in pain and jumped back, having regained his senses

"Let's get out of here," he said

The pair headed for the door in each other's arms. Cordelia had her back to Angel, her hand reaching up behind his head, while his hand rested against her stomach

"Open the door," she said breathlessly

"Kinda hard"

"Kinda noticed"

Angel opened the door and they fell back out into the corridor, both breathing heavily, even though Angel didn't have to

"Okay, that was strange. What the hell was all that?"

"We were possessed," Angel replied, "By lovers afraid of her master"

"Well, we gotta go back in there and stop it. It's the only way"

"You sure about that, Cordy?"

"Up to his ass in demon gore, fine, but ask him to mack on a hottie and he wigs. My champion, ladies and gents"

Cordelia went back into the room, as Angel followed after him, afraid of what could happen if they let themselves go on for too long. As if reading his mind, Cordelia held up her cross necklace

"No happies tonight. I've got the cross so nothing goes too bad"

Almost instantly, they were repossessed by the lovers and embraced, their lips locking together as they kissed passionately. And then, the cross dropped from Cordelia's hand, as the pair made their way to the couch, lost in the passion

††††††††††


	17. Waiting in the Wings

††††††††††

"You don't understand him," Cordelia said, "He has power"

"The power to do this?" Angel asked huskily

Cordelia moaned and arced her back, her eyes closed in contentment, as Angel slipped her dress straps off her shoulders and kissed along her nude bottom, briefly tracing his lips over the scar on her stomach. Cordelia moaned, as Angel kissed her, his hands unseen. She then opened her eyes, seeing something through the haze

"Oh no!"

Angel straightened, as someone tackled him and disappeared over the couch. She sat up, pulling the straps back up, as Angel wrestled with the figure, who was wearing a comedy mask, laughing as he battled with Angel

"Maybe they were interrupted or something," Cordelia said

She didn't see the man approaching her from behind, wearing a tragedy mask. She turned around and screamed, as Angel leapt over the couch, tackling Tragedy. A knife was stabbed into his chest, but Angel grinned, removing the knife, before taking Tragedy's sword. In one smooth, fluid motion, Angel stabbed Tragedy through the chest with the sword, whilst throwing the knife straight into Comedy's throat without looking. He got up from the body, as Cordelia joined him

"We should go"

"You think they're not dead?"

"You looked really _hot_ doing that"

"Right. Come on, let's get going"

Angel and Cordelia left the room, soon bumping into Fred, Wesley and Gunn

"What are you guys doing back here?" Angel asked

"Looking for you," Fred replied, "Uh, Cordy, your tag's sticking out"

"What did you find out?" Wesley asked

"The Prima Ballerina had a lover," Angel replied, "I'm guessing Kurskov found out"

"Who's Kurskov?" Gunn asked

"Owner of this place. This place in trapped in time. Or at least, the Prima is. I'm guessing we find Kurskov and break his hold over this"

"He'll be here, watching the show," Wesley said

"Right, well, I'm heading off to find him. You guys, get out of here"

"Would if we could," Gunn said, "But w – argh!"

A comedy-masked figure had stabbed Gunn in the back, before running off, as Wesley gave chase. Gunn slid against the wall, as Fred stayed by him

"It's not fatal," Angel said, "I think you'll be fine"

"That's reassuring"

"I'm gonna help Wes," Cordelia said

She and Angel headed off in different directions. Wesley caught hold of Comedy and threw him to the floor, taking his sword. Comedy got up, drawing another sword

"Ah. Well then, shall we?" Wesley asked

Comedy lunged with a thrust that Wesley deflected, then sliced at his face. Comedy ducked under the blade, whirling around to slash, but Wesley managed to turn and block, lifting Comedy's sword up, then slicing towards his unprotected stomach. The masked warrior giggled and jumped back, aiming a thrust at Wesley's chest. Stopping the move, Wesley twisted his wrist, flicking Comedy's sword aside, before thrusting his blade through his chest

"Who's laughing now?" Wesley asked

Comedy laughed weakly

"Well, you are. But I win"

At that moment, Cordelia joined him

"Oh, you killed him"

"Is Gunn alright?"

"Yeah, he is. We need to get help for him"

"You go. I'll check on him"

Cordelia headed off, as Wesley headed back towards Gunn and Fred. But what he saw was not what he expected to see: Gunn and Fred locked at the lips. Wesley was crushed. He couldn't believe the sight before his eyes. Pain clutched at his heart and he walked away, heading into another room, before falling to his knees in despair, as Cordelia returned back to Gunn and Fred, who had drawn apart when she arrived

"How's it all going? You doing alright, Gunn?" she asked

"Yeah, it's just a flesh wound. I'll live," Gunn grinned

"How the hell are we gonna get out of here?"

"Kurskov's magic is limited," Wesley said, appearing suddenly, "We killed his henchmen, he exerts his magic making more. The more we kill, the less of a hold he has and we'll be able to break out"

At that moment, two masked henchmen arrived. Wesley tossed one sword to Cordelia, who had been receiving some training from Angel in the past few weeks since Ashleigh's birth. Gunn got to his feet, aided by Fred, as Wesley and Cordelia took on the henchmen together. Once they were 'killed', they split in two

Meanwhile, Angel was searching for a way out of the maze of corridors, when he saw a shimmer. Heading closer, he could see the backstage through the shimmer of reality magic. Knowing that for some reason, Kurskov's hold was falling apart, Angel dived through the portal, landing beside the Prima Ballerina as she stared mournfully out at the stage, where a few dancers came off stage and faded away. Looking up at the highest box seat, Angel could see Kurskov sitting there

"What are you doing back here?" the Prima Ballerina asked

"I know what happened," Angel said, "Kurskov is making you dance forever"

"He thinks I dance for him. Everything I had, I lost it all because I waited too long. I lost everything and now this all I have left"

"But you can change it. Change the dance. By doing that, you're freeing yourself from his hold. And I'm sure you don't want to be his puppet for any longer"

The Prima Ballerina gaped at him in shock, but then realisation and understanding overcame her. When her time came, she danced out onto the stage, but then started doing a completely different routine. Smiling, Angel crossed the stage and leapt up to Kurskov's box seat, throwing his two henchmen over the edge

"You are ruining everything," Kurskov cried, "She dances only for me"

"Yeah, whatever"

Angel slammed his fist into Kurskov's medallion, destroying it and the reality magic. The Prima Ballerina finished her routine, before fading away, finally at peace. Backstage, the minions and corridors disappeared, as the gang made their way to the stage, where Angel joined them, having knocked Kurskov out

"Let's get out of here"

††††††††††

Gunn was fine, as Fred tended to him. Wesley was in the office, closing the door behind him. He had been in there ever since returning from the ballet. Angel thought about the night's events, his fingers resting against the box in his coat. Cordelia joined him by the counter, a cup of water in her hand

"How you doing?" she asked

"Just thinking…about earlier," Angel replied, "We came so close"

"Indeed we did, but hey we've been there before"

"But we could have unleashed Angelus by accident because of that"

"Right, unlike last time," Cordelia said sarcastically

"Look, let's just…move on from tonight. Let's not worry about it, okay?"

"Sure. I can do that. Give me a night and a day and we'll be peachy"

"Look, I kinda wanna forget about tomorrow, simply because…well…I've got something…to say"

"If it's 'I love you', I already know that"

"No…yes…no wait, this is a little bit bigger than this"

Angel was about to bring the box out, when Lorne came down the stairs, carrying a crying Ashleigh, a bottle in the other hand

"Oh finally, you guys are back. Ash's been crying for a while now. Won't take her bottle and I changed her and all. Guess she just wants Mommy's touch"

"I'll take her," Cordelia said, before taking her daughter from Lorne

She headed off upstairs, as Lorne joined Angel by the counter

"So, how'd it go?"

"There was going to be a moment, but I think I kinda screwed it up. And when I tried to salvage it, the moment was already lost"

Angel sighed and cast his eyes towards the second floor where Cordelia had gone

"You might have missed it this time, champ, but there will be another time," Lorne said, "Don't fret too much. Our seer isn't going to go anywhere any time soon"

"I don't wanna wait forever for the right moment," Angel said, "Or it might be too late"

††††††††††


	18. Holiday for Cordy

††††††††††

Cordelia sighed, resting her head in her hands on the desk. She was tired and worn out. Looking after two young children was not easy. Angel could see the strain wearing down on her. He did his best to do what he could with their children, but lately, Cordelia seemed really tired. She wasn't getting much sleep due to Ashleigh's fussy needs. She need a break, Angel thought, a good break away from work. He fingered the engagement box in his pocket, knowing that now was not the right time, nor there would be a good time for a while if this kept up. The only way he could really propose to her was when she was good and rested, but that wasn't happening

Sighing, Angel picked his daughter up and moved out into the lobby, slowly rocking her to sleep, as Connor joined him on the couch, staring at his sister

"Ashie cranky?" he asked

"No, she's just tired, buddy, like your mother. Try not to harass her, okay. If there's something you want, come see me or your uncles"

"Okay then. You wanna play with me?"

Connor held up one of his toy cars to his father, who chuckled and joined him on the floor, placing Ashleigh in her bassinet. Cordelia watched from her computer as Angel played with their son and a small smile appeared on her face. She was glad for Angel stepping in and doing his best to making sure she got rest. She had been tired and worn out these last few days and things were a little awkward with Angel following the incident at the ballet. Speaking of which, ever since that night, Wesley had barely been seen outside his office. Getting herself a cup of coffee, Cordelia headed into the office, finding Wesley pouring over something

"Whatcha doing?" she asked

"Working on something," Wesley replied without looking up

"Okay, Wes, you can look at me. I'm not mad at you or anything"

"I know that, Cordy, but…she chose and it wasn't me"

"I guess I can understand why you've been moping these past few days, but you can't do it forever. You gotta come out and join the living sometime"

"I would, but I'm working on something and I can't just leave it"

"In other words, you don't wanna see Fred and Gunn get all snugly together?"

Wesley looked up at her, a five o'clock shadow growing

"Piper's available if that helps," Cordelia suggested

"Thanks, but it doesn't"

"Okay then, Giles junior, I'll leave you to it then"

She left the office, seeing Gunn at the weapons cabinet, grabbing his axe, before leaving the hotel with Fred

"Where are they going?"

"Got a case," Angel replied, checking on Ashleigh, "A woman called, asking us to spy on her husband. She thinks he's cheating on her"

"Okay, so why would Gunn take his axe along"

"Maybe it's a demon he's cheating on her with"

"Or maybe it's just an ordinary, human woman"

Cordelia sat down on the couch, seeing that her daughter was sleeping contently

"God, I am so tired," she said, leaning back

"You need a break," Angel said, "You need a holiday"

"I would take one, but I can't leave you guys"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll be fine. Honestly, think it over. It'll be good for you"

"What about Ashleigh? She needs me, Angel"

"She's on the bottle, Cordy. I can handle the kids. You need the break"

"Alright then, I'll think about it. God knows I need it, but I can't leave you"

Angel smiled, leaning up and capturing Cordelia's lips in a kiss

"Thanks, Cordy. But I can handle myself and this is important for you"

About an hour later, Angel and Cordelia had put their children to bed, with still no sign of Wesley, Gunn or Fred. But it was then the phone rang and Angel answered it. Within minutes, he put his coat on, grabbed his broadsword and headed out into the night, arriving at Gunn's last location. There was no sign of the pair, as Angel headed over to the large tree. Roots suddenly shot out of the ground and wrapped around Angel. Quick as a flash, he brought his sword up between himself and the roots, as he was sucked underground, cutting his way out of the roots

"Oh, hey Angel," Fred called

Angel saw her and Gunn tied to the wall with massive tree roots, then saw the large, ugly face carved into one of the walls, as it waved its roots around

"Well, aren't you just ugly?" Angel asked, "What is this thing?"

"We don't know," Gunn replied, "It grabbed our guy and I think it absorbs our life forces through the roots. That's the idea I'm getting"

"Alright then. Let's go"

The tree monster lashed its roots at Angel, but he sliced through them, littering the floor with severed roots, as the monster roared in pain. Angel leapt away from a sweeping root, as another root shot at him. Hacking it off, Angel then moved towards the monster, as it roared and lashed out at him again. Dodging a few roots, Angel found that a root had trapped his right arm, as another root slammed into his chest, right where his heart would have been, dropping him to his knees. The monster roared in triumph, but then a look of worry overcame its face

"Vampire," it cried

"Yeah, that's right," Angel replied, "No life force. How does it feel?"

"So…cold," the tree monster moaned

Angel removed the root from his chest, before heading over to the monster and stabbing it through the face. Black blood poured from the wound, as Angel then sliced apart the roots holding Gunn and Fred prisoner. There was nothing he could do for the man Gunn had been following

"Let's get out of here," Angel said

They left the cavern, arriving back at the Hyperion. Angel wiped the blood off the sword, before putting it back in the cabinet and removing his coat, as Cordelia got up from her desk and walked out into the lobby

"What happened?" she asked

"Tree demon," Angel replied, wincing in pain

"Are you alright?" she asked with concern

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You two should get cleaned up"

Gunn and Fred headed upstairs, as Cordelia turned to Angel

"I've given some thought to what you said earlier"

"Yeah and what's your decision?"

"I'm gonna go on holiday. I hope that's okay with you and that you don't mind"

"Cordy, I'm the one who suggested the holiday. You look so tired, you seriously need it. And don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I've got the gang to help me if I need it"

"Well, okay then. Thanks for this, Angel"

"Cordy, I love you, alright and I would do anything for you"

He walked over to the counter, before pulling out a rolled-up wad of money

"Here, this is for you. I've saved this up for you"

"Why would you do that?" Cordelia asked

"Lately, motherhood has been getting to you and a break is calling"

"Thanks, Angel, for everything"

Cordelia took the money and kissed Angel on the lips, before heading upstairs. He followed after her and helped her pack a few things. Once she was done, Cordelia went into the next room and placed a kiss on her children's foreheads, before heading down into the lobby, where Angel was waiting with her suitcase

"I know this is completely sudden," he said, "But you need it. You deserve it"

"Thank you, Angel. I'll see you in a couple of weeks?"

"Yeah. You have fun and don't worry about a thing. We can hold the fort here. You get a vision, just give us a call and we'll handle the rest"

"You are so sweet. You have no idea how lucky I am to have you"

"I have an idea of how luck I am to have you. And our children"

"Goodbye, Angel"

She and Angel shared a passionate kiss, before breaking away. He kissed her forehead and she grabbed her suitcase, before leaving the hotel. Angel smiled as she left, knowing it was for the best. She needed it right now and when she returned, she would be well rested and fresh. And that's when he would propose to her. Smiling, Angel headed into the office to check on Wesley

"Cordy's just left. She's going on holiday"

"That's good to hear," Wesley said, "She looked ragged these last few days"

"Yeah, it's for the best for her. She seriously needed it. anyhow, I thought I'd let you know, so you don't worry, okay?"

"Thanks, Angel. Goodnight"

Angel left the office, as Wesley returned to his work. Following Ashleigh's birth, he had been working on the Nyazian scroll, trying to figure out the mystery behind her birth. He knew it was impossible for her to be born and yet she had been. But during his work, he hadn't found any references to Ashleigh. Only to her brother. A prophecy and a dark one at that. His translations jumped out before him and the words terrified him. Prophecies were bound to come true and this one, he didn't want it to

THE FATHER WILL KILL THE SON

††††††††††


	19. The Father Will Kill the Son

††††††††††

"Hockey is the greatest, greatest sport known to man," Angel declared

"Dude, hockey is the WHITEST sport known to man," Gunn replied

Angel ignored him as he opened the crate, removing a small hockey shirt made for a toddler. He turned it around, showing the number '3' and Connor's name on the back

"Cute," Fred grinned, "How'd you pay for it?"

"I memorised Cordy's credit card number," Angel replied

Gunn took out the small hockey sticks, tossing one to Angel, before grabbing the puck and dribbling it a bit, then shooting it under the weapons cabinet

"He shoots, he scores!"

"Yeah, with no defender," Angel grumbled, retrieving the puck

He and Gunn played around with a puck for a bit, until Angel stole the puck off Gunn and fired it – straight through one of the windows

"Yeah, they're not even regulation size," Angel cringed

The crashing woke Ashleigh up and she started to cry, but Angel moved to her, picking her up and rocking her, whispering soothing words into her ear

"I wonder how Cordy is going on her holiday," Fred said

"She needed the time off," Angel said, "I'm sure she's enjoying herself"

"What has Wesley been doing in that office lately?" Gunn asked

"He's been working on something. I'll check on him," Angel offered

He headed into the office, finding Wesley hunched over at his desk

"Man, Wes, you look like hell. And I don't mean the fun one where they burn you with hot pokers for all eternity. I'm talking about the hardcore one with Nixon and Britney Spears"

"Thanks, Angel," Wesley said dryly, not looking up

"What are you working on?"

"Just a few prophecies here and there. I'm heading out later for some more books and other sources to translate this one"

"Okay then. At least you'll see some sun. Don't wanna end up like me, do you?"

"No, we wouldn't want that"

Angel smiled and left the office, as Wesley sighed and stared at his translation, the words boring into his eyes. He didn't believe it. He knew Angel would never kill Connor. But he had to be certain. He needed proof to disprove the prophecy. Gathering up a few things, Wesley left the office, largely ignoring Gunn and Fred fooling around together on the couch. Leaving the hotel, Wesley headed for an occult shop, searching for more books on prophecies. He spent a few hours at the shop, gathering information, as well as a location where he could have his questions answered. Writing everything down, Wesley headed off

††††††††††

"Mmm, so good," Angel grinned, smacking his lips

"Angelcakes, you feeling okay?" Lorne asked, "You've been drinking a lot of blood lately. Gotta watch your weight. Can't have a chubby champion"

"I know, but you know, I'm a vampire. I gotta have blood to survive"

"Yeah, okay, fair point, but slow down on the intake, champ"

Just then, Ashleigh started crying from inside her bassinet

"Aren't you gonna get your daughter?" Fred asked

"Always crying. Always needing something. Wish she would just _grow up_!"

Angel threw his glass of blood in anger, shattering it against the wall, as Gunn moved in front of Fred and Lorne, prepared to take on Angel just in case

"Hold on, champ, she's just a baby," Lorne said

"Not for long she will be," Angel growled, then suddenly relaxed, "What's going on? What's happening to me?"

Fred moved out from behind Gunn, taking a swap of blood from the wall

"Where have you been getting your blood?" she asked

"Same place as always"

Fred took the swap to her microscope and started analysing it

"It's pig's blood, but it also has human blood in it. Someone's been spiking your supply. Let me compare some samples"

She sent to work, as Angel ran his hand through his hair in frustration

"Oh boy. You're not gonna like this, Angel," Fred said after several minutes, "Someone's been putting Connor and Ashleigh's blood in your supply"

"And we all know the one place that would do that," Gunn said

"Wolfram and Hart," Angel finished, "Time to pay Lilah a visit"

††††††††††

Lilah was busy having a drink down at the bar, having just finished a busy day at work and was rewarding herself for her good work

"Enjoying some me time?"

Lilah looked up at the mirror across from her, before rolling her eyes, as Angel sat down beside her

"How'd you find me?" she asked

"Your assistant"

"I'll have his arms broken"

"Already taken care of. What kind of game are you playing?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about"

"Spiking my blood supply with that of my children? And here I thought you couldn't sink any lower than you already have"

"What are you gonna do about it, Angel? Kill me?"

"It's tempting"

"What the hell is going on here?" cried a voice

Lilah and Angel turned around to face Sahjahn, who had suddenly appeared behind them, a look of anger and confusion on his face

"Why are you having a chat with my mortal enemy?" Sahjahn asked, outraged

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Angel asked, "Cause I'm sure I would"

"Don't worry, Sahjahn, Angel came to me," Lilah replied, "I'd kill him if I could, but you know my bosses. They won't let that. Don't worry about it"

"Fun as this is, I'm leaving," Angel said, "Goodbye"

††††††††††

Wesley arrived back at the hotel, a dejected look on his face. He had visited Holtz for some reason. Holtz knew about the prophecy and apparently wanted to save the two children from Angel. From there, Wesley went to a source and learned that the prophecy would indeed come true, following an earthquake, fire and a rain of blood. He decided to tell Angel about it all and headed up to his room, finding the vampire rocking his daughter to sleep, Connor already asleep on the bed

"Wes, you're back," Angel said, "We've been missing you"

"I had some things to take care of. Everything alright here?"

"Everything's fine. There you go, Ash. All nice, warm and asleep"

Angel put his daughter to sleep and stepped back with a smile

"I tell you, Wes, these kids, they're everything to me. They're my whole world, along with Cordy and you guys. But my children, they're something more. I would do anything for them. Hell, I would die for them"

Wesley smiled as he listened to his best friend, then let out a small chuckle

"What's so funny?" Angel asked, trying to figure out the joke

"Oh, nothing really," Wesley grinned, "Just…little things"

Angel smiled, when suddenly, the whole place started to shake. An earthquake had struck. Connor bolted upright in shock and fear, as Ashleigh started crying. The stove fell over, setting the carpet ablaze. Angel grabbed Connor, then lifted Ashleigh out of her bassinet with one arm, before leaping over a burning piece of the ceiling, rushing out of the room. Wesley simply stood in the room, transfixed by the flames. Angel put his son down, before rushing back inside and grabbing Wesley by the back of his shirt, dragging him out of the room as the flames became intense

"Are you alright?" Angel asked, kneeling before Connor

Slumped against the wall, Wesley watched as blood dripped from a cut on Angel's forehead, dripping down upon Ashleigh's blanket and Connor's head

"Oh well, if I got stuck in there, I'd be fine," Angel said, "Couple of snacks"

Wesley's jaw dropped slightly in shock as he realized that the prophecy was starting to come true, right before his very eyes

††††††††††


	20. Loyalty of Wesley

††††††††††

Wesley downed his fourth glass of scotch, the liquid burning down his throat. Running a hand over his beard and then through his hair, he went over his plan again. He had thrown his diaries away and packed up most of his belongings. Now, all he needed was Connor. While he had a feeling Ashleigh could be in danger from Angel, the prophecy centred on Connor, which placed him in immediate danger. Wesley had to get him away from Angel and as soon as possible. He just hoped that in the long run, Angel and Cordelia would forgive him for what he done. If Cordelia was still here, she would have eventually made him tell her about the prophecy. But she wasn't and Wesley was left alone to carry out one of the hardest things he had ever done in his life: betraying one of his best friends

An hour later and Wesley had Connor in his arms, heading back to his apartment, but it was no easy feat. He had to get permission from Angel to have Connor stay over his place, which Angel allowed. But then, Wesley had to knock Lorne out because he had read the ex-Watcher when he was humming. Following that, everyone returned to the hotel and Wesley only just managed to slip out with Connor when Lorne was starting to come around. Now, he was adding the final things to his car, Connor strapped to his seat. Slamming the door shut, Wesley was about to get into the driver's seat, when someone caught his eye: Justine stumbling across the park, bruised and bleeding

"Justine, what are you doing here?" Wesley asked, moving to her side

"You were right, Pryce. Holtz turned on me," Justine replied, falling into his arms

"Come on then, we have to get you medical attention"

"No, I just need to do this"

In one fluid motion, Justine was behind Wesley, gripping him in a chokehold, as she ran her knife along his throat. Dropping Wesley aside, she grabbed his keys and jumped into the car, driving away, as Wesley clutched at his throat, trying to stem the bleeding, watching as Justine drove away with Connor

††††††††††

"Wesley did what to you?" Fred asked

"He knocked me out," Lorne replied, "I read him while he humming. He's visited Holtz twice this week and also…"

"What is it, Lorne?" Angel asked impatiently

"He's taking Connor away. Far away"

A look of rage overcame Angel and he grabbed his coat, putting it on as he left the hotel, getting into the Plymouth and tearing away from the car park, racing towards Wesley's apartment. But when he got there, the ex-Watcher wasn't home, most of his belongings were missing and his car was gone. Growling and slamming his fist through the wall, Angel get back into the Plymouth, swinging around a corner and coming across two heavily armed SUVs, which he knew belonged to Wolfram and Hart. One of the SUVs drove away, as Angel took down the driver of the second and got in, driving away after the first

††††††††††

Justine swung around a corner and speed along the road, as Holtz stepped out before her. She applied the brakes, coming to a stop as he hopped in, before looking over his shoulder at Connor, who was giving them both a strange look each

"Who are you?" Connor asked

"My dear boy, we're your new parents," Holtz replied, "From now on, you will be known as Steven Franklin Thomas Holtz"

"Where's Wesley?"

"He's been indisposed," Justine replied, "Angel will be after us"

"Then I suggest we step on it"

Justine put the car into gear and drove off. Meanwhile, Fred and Gunn arrived at Wesley's apartment, rifling through what left of his belongings, trying to figure out why he had kidnapped Connor. Gunn kicked over one of the bins, dispelling a few diaries. Crouching down, he opened one of them and started to read

"He's got diaries for each one: Angel, Connor and Ashleigh," Gunn said, as Fred joined him, reading another diary, "This one on Connor dates back to his birth"

"Well, he's got some notes on here about a prophecy surrounding Ashleigh, but as it turns out, it's about Connor instead"

"Yeah, says here in the Angel diary that…oh holy crap. I know why Wesley kidnapped Connor"

"Why?"

"Because Angel was gonna kill Connor. Look, right here, it's all Wesley's translations and diary entries"

"That's why he's been huddled in his office," Fred said

"Yeah, looked like the prophecy was coming true," Gunn continued, "Wesley believed that Angel would kill Connor. That's why he took Connor

"We have to let Angel know. And we've gotta find Wesley"

††††††††††

Angel swung around the corner, following after the SUV, as another two joined them. They came to a stop, when a silver car flew past. Angel recognised it as Wesley's, but apparently, so did Wolfram and Hart, as they started to go after Wesley. Angel floored the gas, flying pass the first SUV and catching up onto Wesley's tail, as he swung around a corner. Angel tapped the rear end of the car, making sure he didn't put too much power in the move to flip the car. The car started to turn, as Angel struck again. This time, Wesley turned down a sudden corner, coming to a stop near a desolate area. Holtz and Justine got out of the car, the former carrying Connor, as Angel stopped and leapt out of the car. Wolfram and Hart stopped nearby, soldiers piling out and forming a line with Lilah at the front

"Stop right there or I'll break his little neck," Holtz threatened

Angel pulled up short, as Wolfram and Hart readied their guns. Holtz had one arm around Connor's neck, but making sure he was still able to breathe. Angel then slammed his fist into a soldier's face, taking his gun and turning it on Lilah

"I can't die, but you can. Back off"

"I fall, my men open fire and your son dies," Lilah shot back

"Hand Connor over," Angel told Holtz, keeping his eye on Lilah

Before Holtz could reply, Sahjahn appeared amongst the group

"Kill the child," he ordered Holtz

"What are you gonna do about it if I don't?" Holtz asked, "Angelus, you have a choice for your son: with me, he gets to live. I think you know the other choice"

"Take him then," Angel said after a few torturous minutes of thinking

"I shall raise him as my own. He'll never know about you," Holtz said

Bored of the whole proceedings, Sahjahn raised his hands, as a large magenta portal opened up before everyone. It was surrounded by gold lightning, as dark clouds brewed about inside the portal

"You're looking at Quor-toth, the darkest of dark realms," Sahjahn said, "The longer the child is alive, the more of this world Quor-toth will devour. Kill him!"

No one made a move. Then suddenly, Holtz grabbed Justine and threw her towards Angel, before sprinting away towards the portal. Angel shoved Justine aside and raced after Holtz, just as he leapt into Quor-toth with Connor in his arms. Angel dived after him, but a bolt of lighting struck him in the chest, blasting him back, as the portal closed up and faded away

"Hmm, impressive," Sahjahn commented

He faded away, as Lilah smirked at Angel's prone form, before heading back into the cars with her men, leaving Angel lying there on the ground, as the tears ran down his face and he stared at the spot where Quor-toth had been a minute ago

"Connor," Angel whispered painfully

††††††††††

Angel trudged into the hospital about two hours later, greeting Fred and Gunn

"He's alive," Gunn said, "I think he wants to see you"

Without saying a word, Angel headed into the room, where Wesley was lying on a bed, his throat bandaged and his arm hooked up to a drip

"I got told about the prophecy. I understand all that you did and why you did it. But Wes, you know me. I'm not Angelus. I love my children. I could never kill them, no matter what. Thanks to you, I've lost Connor"

Rage overcame Angel and he grabbed a pillow, placing it over Wesley's face

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU TOOK MY SON!"

Orderlies burst in, trying to remove Angel, but he threw them off, forcing the pillow down. Gunn burst in and with the orderlies' help, successfully removed Angel, as Wesley choked in air, while Angel was being dragged away

"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, PRYCE. YOU'RE A DEAD MAN! YOU HEAR ME, YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD!"

††††††††††


	21. Angel vs Sahjahn

††††††††††

"Angel, please think about this," Lorne said, "Quor-toth is a dark, dark world. Getting there in nigh impossible. It's not a dimension, it's a tear in reality"

"I don't care, Lorne," Angel replied darkly, "But my son is there and I'm gonna do whatever I can to get him back"

Angel opened the door, revealing Linwood Murrow tied to a chair, bruises forming on his face. Angel strode in, seating himself before Linwood, before rummaging through a series of sharp instruments

"The infamous torture techniques of the legendary Angelus?" Linwood said

"You're just getting a small taste. This isn't the full magic bag," Angel replied stonily, "Now, what can you tell me about Sahjahn?"

"Who's Sahjahn?"

Linwood cried out in pain, a knife sticking out of his thigh. Angel then grabbed another sharp object and held it centimetres from Linwood's eye

"Start talking," he growled

"Grab my phone and speed dial one"

Angel did that and held the phone to Linwood's ear

"Hello, Lilah? Yes, I need you to take Angel to the White Room"

††††††††††

Angel and Lilah were standing inside the White Room, which really lived up to its name. It was simply white everywhere. And apart from Angel and Lilah, there was another occupant in the room. A little girl in a red dress

"You want the big bad nasty Sahjahn, do you?" the girl asked, "Does poor little Angel miss his little bubsy-wubsy boy?"

Angel growled and started for the girl, but Lilah held him back

"I can see it in your eyes, the hatred and need for revenge. I can give it to you. Kill her"

Angel instantly grabbed Lilah by the throat, ready to break her neck

"That'll do," the girl giggled, "If you want Sahjahn, you need to make him whole. I made him intangible. But you can give him form so you can kill him"

The girl held out a little scroll with a list of instructions. Angel took in and a minute later, found himself back in Wolfram and Hart

"You're coming with me," he growled to Lilah

Within an hour, Angel and Lilah had painted a large pentagram on the lobby floor at the Hyperion. Linwood was in another chair, simply because Angel purposely broke the other one while dropping him down the stairs, just for dark giggles

"Need blood of a human," Angel said, "Who's offering?"

Lilah grabbed a knife and went for Linwood, as he tried to shrink back from her. But she smirked darkly at him and cut her palm, dripping her blood onto the pentagram. Angel stepped forth and read the incantation, as a glow of light washed over the Hyperion for a few seconds. However, there was no Sahjahn in sight

"Did it work?" Lilah asked

Angel ignored her as he left the hotel. Lilah shrugged and got out her phone

"Get some guys here to take Linwood back to the office. He's in a rough shape"

††††††††††

Out on the streets, Angel came across evidence of the success of his spell: a two-tonne car was flipped up onto its side, the driver sitting on the walkway, head in hands, while cars were piled up around his car, following a major disturbance. After speaking with the driver and sniffing some blood, Angel was on his way. Meanwhile, Fred and Gunn had come across Holtz's old hideout that he had with Sahjahn…who had just arrived back home

"I don't like intruders in my home," Sahjahn growled

"Sorry, we were just leaving," Fred said

"No, stay. Just long enough so I can kill you"

Sahjahn flexed his corporeal fingers, as Gunn stood protectively before Fred

"Why waste your energy on them, when you can use it on me?"

Sahjahn whirled around to face Angel, who was glaring at him with hatred

"Oh, it's you. So sorry about your son and all"

"Fred, Gunn, get the hell out of here, now," Angel demanded, "Why did you want to get rid of my son so badly?"

"How would you feel if you came across a prophecy that said you were gonna die? And that they had named your killer? 'The child of the vampire will grow to manhood and kill Sahjahn'. I was saving my own ass"

"You changed the prophecy?" Fred asked, "Angel was never gonna kill Connor, you just changed it and made everyone believe he would"

"A nice little trick and look at what happened. It turned out for the best"

"Connor had been around for nearly two years before you did anything," Angel said

"Yeah, well, I needed help and I was waiting for Holtz to wake up"

"You're gonna tell me how to get to Quor-toth"

"Hmph, yeah right"

Fred jumped in fear when she heard the loud roar. It almost sounded like a lion. Then she saw that it had come from Angel, his game face on, golden eyes blazing. He leapt at Sahjahn, punching him in the face, followed by a punch to the sternum. Sahjahn grabbed Angel's wrist and twisted it aside, but Angel slammed his leg into the demon's waist, then punched him in the jaw. Sahjahn uppercutted Angel, throwing him against the wall. He slammed against a wall and landed on his feet, growling. Sahjahn charged, as Angel jumped off the wall and spun around, kicking him in the face, then dropping and sweeping his legs out from underneath him

Sahjahn got to his feet, as Angel's fist slammed into his face again. He caught Angel's next blow in his hand, then struck Angel, before booting him in the chest. Angel flipped onto his feet, performing a roundhouse kick that Sahjahn ducked under. Whirling around, Angel did a jumping kick, but Sahjahn dodged it, before moving in with a crushing blow to Angel's face. Reeling back, Angel found himself being thrown against the wall, as Gunn and Fred came in. Sahjahn smacked Gunn aside, as Fred thrusted a burning bracket into his face

"Do I look like I need more skin problems?" Sahjahn asked

He batted Fred aside, then picked Angel up and slammed him against one pillar, before slamming him against another pillar. Angel growled and punched Sahjahn in the face, as he slammed Angel onto the table. Angel gasped, his features returning to normal, as Sahjahn grabbed a makeshift stake and raised it over Angel's heart

"It was worthwhile"

Sahjahn brought the stake down, but Justine had entered the room, carrying a large urn. She opened it and suddenly, Sahjahn was getting sucked into the urn, as Justine quickly capped it. She then left the place, as Angel got up from the table

"You okay, man?" Gunn asked

"I'll live," Angel replied

††††††††††

Wesley signed out from the hospital and headed back home, alone. He had managed to retrieve some of his belongings from his car and entered his apartment, before collapsing onto the couch, burying his face into his hands, as the tears started to fall and the past days began to catch up on him. He had lost everything, in one single night, in one fell swoop, everything he held dear to him was gone. He was left all alone in his dark apartment. A few hours before he was discharged, Fred had visited him and warned him never to come back to the hotel, otherwise Angel would kill him. Wesley had taken these words to heart, as he poured himself a glass of scotch

††††††††††

Angel sat in Connor's room at the base of the bed. Ashleigh was lying on a blanket beside him, as Angel stared off into space, thinking about his son. He had just lost his last chance to find Connor. Now, Ashleigh would have to grow up without her brother

"_At least I still have Ash,"_ he thought sullenly

He looked down at his baby daughter, a small smile coming to his face. Picking her up, Angel moved to the bed, gently rocking her in his arms. She cooed at him and a small smile came to Angel's face, the first one he had in the last few days since Connor's disappearance. Angel sighed, kissing Ashleigh on her cheek

"Well, looks like it's just you now. Shame really. You'd loved Connor"

Just then, the door slowly opened and Cordelia came into the room. She sat next to Angel and wrapped her arms around him, silent tears tracking down her face

"I'm so sorry," Angel whispered sadly

"I'm sorry too," Cordelia said, "I just got back and Gunn told me"

Together, the couple sat there in each other's comfort, their baby daughter sleeping contently in her father's arms as they mourned the loss of their son

††††††††††


	22. Double or Nothing

††††††††††

"How's he doing?" Fred asked

"How do you think?" Cordelia asked, "How do you think I'm doing? I come back from my holiday to find out that my best friend kidnapped my son and now he's lost in some hell dimension"

Just then, Angel came downstairs, Ashleigh in his arms as he sat on the couch

"Angel, next time you do a spell, make sure that the pentagram isn't permanent," Cordelia said, standing up, "Okay, we're gonna get a rug. A big one"

"So really, how are you guys holding up?" Fred asked gently

"Painfully, but slowly getting there," Angel replied, not looking up from Ashleigh

"He's been really protective of Ash lately," Fred whispered to Cordelia, "He hasn't let her out of his sight ever since, well, you know"

"I can hear you and don't you think I have a good reason?"

"Angel, I understand," Cordelia said, sitting next to him, "Here, let me take her"

Without taking his eyes off his daughter, Angel handed her to Cordelia and she got up, pacing in the lobby, cooing to her baby, as Gunn came into the hotel

"Hey, babe, feel like going out?" he asked

"Sure…I mean, if that's alright with you guys," Fred said

"Yeah, go, take the day off. Not much is happening anyway," Angel said

Gunn took Fred by the hand and they left the hotel, as Angel sighed

"I tried, Cordy. I tried to get him back. But I couldn't. I lost our son"

"Angel, it's not your fault. You did all the best you could"

"But I failed. Our son is…gone forever. And nothing can bring him back"

"Don't go beating yourself up about it. At least we still have Ashleigh"

Cordelia kissed Angel on the cheek and he pulled her into a hug

"I know. At least we still have our baby girl"

††††††††††

Wesley sat at the bar, staring into space, a glass of whiskey before him and an angry scar running across his neck, a constant reminder of that night

"Mind if I join?" asked a voice

Wesley looked up at Lilah and sighed

"Of course I do"

Lilah ignored him and sat next to him, her finger tracing the edge of her glass

"So, how does it feel? The scar I mean. What did it feel like when she cut you?"

Wesley's hand shot out and grabbed Lilah by the throat. She didn't even have time to blink, he was that fast

"You seem so interested in finding out. Wanna have a taste?"

"No, thanks, I'll be fine"

Wesley removed his hand and downed his whiskey, largely ignoring Lilah

"So, you kidnap the kid in order to protect him from his prone-to-turn-evil father, but you get your throat slit, the kid gets lost in a hell dimension and you get cast out from the group, despite your good and noble intentions. Tell me, is that fair?"

"What would you know of fair?" Wesley asked, "You work for Wolfram and Hart"

"Speaking of them, they're interested in you, Wesley. I mean, you've got the brains, the skill and the coldness in you. You're perfect for us"

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in what you do, Lilah"

Wesley finished his whiskey and left the table, leaving Lilah behind

††††††††††

"Well, aren't you just the cutest baby girl in the whole world?" Cordelia cooed

Ashleigh smiled at her mother, as Angel came downstairs, carrying the burnt bed and tossing it outside, along with the rest of the burnt junk from the room. He went back upstairs, this time going to Connor's room and packing up his belongings. However, he made it a slow task, wanting to take time as he continued to mourn, but knew he had to move on. Connor was gone and there was no bringing him back

"Do you want any help?" Cordelia asked from the doorway

"No. I'll be fine"

"Angel, he's my son as well. I want to help you. You can't undertake this burden alone. We're his parents. I should be helping you shoulder the grief"

"He was in my care while you were gone and I lost him, lost him forever"

"Oh, so because of that, you're gonna shut me out of your life now? Hello, we also have a daughter that you need to take care of"

"Cordy, please, just…let me do this one alone?"

Cordelia was about to say more when Fred suddenly appeared, tears streaming down her face, as Angel and Cordelia instantly went to her side

"What's wrong?" Cordelia asked

"It's Charles. He…broke up with…me," Fred sobbed, "But…there's something…wrong. He doesn't…act like this…he's trying to protect me"

"Don't worry, Fred, we'll get to the bottom of this," Angel promised

††††††††††

_A few hours later…_

Gunn strode into the casino, reluctant determination upon his face

"Alright, let's do this," he said to the soul-sucker Jenoff

"Ah, coming good on your deal?" Jenoff asked, "Excellent. Let's do this"

Two demons grabbed Gunn by the arms, as Jenoff raised his fingers to Gunn's eyes. Just as he was about to put them through his eyes, Angel, Fred and Cordelia burst into the casino. A demon moved forth, but Angel booted him in the gut, before punching another demon in the face. Fred had Ashleigh by her side, as Cordelia struck a demon across the jaw, as another demon went to punch her, but Angel caught the demon by the arm and tossed him through the air, crashing against a game table. Before he could do any more damage, Angel found himself surrounded by demons

"Ah, you must be Angel," Jenoff said, "The vampire with a soul"

"And you must be Jenoff," Angel said, "The soul-sucker"

"You've come to beg for Gunn's soul?"

"Well, see, we need him at work and I don't think he'll be entirely useful without a soul. So I offer you a challenge: you win, you get Gunn's soul along with mine, but I win, you let Gunn go"

"Very well then. What game shall we play? Blackjack? Texas Hold 'Em?"

"About a simple cut of the deck? Highest number wins"

"Very well. Let's begin"

"Angel, are you sure about this?" Cordelia asked, "You know what will happen if Jenoff wins? Angelus comes back"

"Don't worry, I've won many card games," Angel said, "Besides, I can count on you"

Angel and Jenoff took their seats, as a deck of cards were placed before them. Jenoff shuffled them and Angel made a cut in the deck

"Three of hearts," Jenoff smiled, before making his cut, revealing a nine of spades, "Sorry, Angel, but you lose"

Cordelia raised a stake behind Angel, but stabbed it into Jenoff's hand, as Angel decapitated him, sending his head flying, while Fred moved towards Gunn

"There, all done"

"If it were that easy, I would have done it myself," Gunn said

Angel looked back at Jenoff and saw another head starting to grow

"Doesn't anyone else owe this guy?"

Demons and humans all piled upon Jenoff's regenerating form, as the Fang Gang left the casino. Angel, Cordelia and Ashleigh took off in the Plymouth, as Fred and Gunn hopped up into his truck

"I'm sorry for what I did and said to you," Gunn said, "I was trying to protect you"

"I get that, but you're not completely off the hook," Fred said, "There's still a lot of grovelling and begging to be done"

"I'm prepared to do that. I love you, Fred and I can't imagine life without you"

Fred smiled and leaned in, kissing Gunn on the lips

"I love you too, Charles. Now let's get out of here"

"Agree with you there. But first, what did you sell your soul for?"

Gunn started up the engine with a small smile and looked at Fred

"This baby. She has helped me save a lot of lives over the years"

Fred smiled and kissed Gunn again, as he reversed and took off towards the hotel

††††††††††


	23. The Price

††††††††††

The man staggered into the restaurant, stopping before the counter

"Water. Give us water," he demanded

"Uh, yeah, sure," the clerk said hesitantly

The man headed to the fridge and started chugging the water bottles

"Hey, you gotta pay for those," the clerk cried

The man grabbed him and tossed him aside with ease. People started screaming and running, as the man drank all the water bottles, before attacking the juice bottles next, his veins standing out thickly against his pale grey skin as he continued to drink

††††††††††

Angel and Gunn returned back to the hotel, having taken care of a vampire nest downtown. However, when they arrived back, they found a man in the office, drinking from the water cooler

"Can we help you?" Gunn asked, trying to hide his axe

The man stopped drinking and faced the men, causing them to jump in surprise at his appearance. Then, a look of anger overcame the man when he saw Angel

"You! This is all your fault!"

"Okay, first off, who are you and what did I do to you?" Angel asked

"You and your spell!"

Suddenly, the man toppled over, collapsing into shattered clay upon hitting the ground, leaving his clothes intact, just as Cordelia and Fred arrived, having gone out for a bit of shopping, Ashleigh supported in Cordelia's arms

"What's going on here?" the seer asked

"Fred, can you take an analysis of this guy, please?" Angel asked

"Sure thing, Angel"

Fred grabbed a few things from the office and took a sample of the clay, as Gunn rifled through the clothes, grabbing a wallet, as something moved inside the clothes. Gunn jumped back in shock when something scuttled out from the clothes

"What the hell is that?" Cordelia cried, keeping her distance

Gunn tried to stomp on the creature, but it was too fast for him, running up the wall. However, Angel removed a dagger from the weapons cabinet and hurled it through the air, pinning the demon to the wall. It struggled weakly, then fell still. Angel removed the dagger, the demon still pinned to the blade

"What is that thing?" Gunn asked, "It was like a rat"

"Fred, I'm gonna need you to check this thing out," Angel said

He handed the dagger to Fred, before heading into his office and grabbing one of the demonology books, seating himself at the desk and starting to read

"So, what's the new word on the street?" Lorne asked, arriving at the hotel

"Research on some new demon," Cordelia replied, bobbing Ashleigh on her knee, "It was inside a guy and turned him into clay"

"Via dehydration," Fred said, "The slugs suck all the moisture out of the humans"

"Well, isn't that a pleasant thing?" Lorne asked

Suddenly, a dagger flew through the air, stabbing into another slug demon. Cordelia screamed in shock, as Angel removed the dagger, watching as the slug died

"Okay, they're coming from somewhere"

"I'll get onto it," Fred said

She started going through the demonology books, as Angel and Gunn went through their weapons, cleaning and preparing them. Gunn grabbed a crossbow and loaded it, before shooting a slug crawling up the wall behind Cordelia

"Oh crap, we're under attack by slugs," she cried, "Couldn't it have been anything worse than slugs?"

"Wherever they're coming from, it's inside the hotel," Angel said, "Quick, lock all the doors and windows. We can't let any of them escape"

"You're gonna trap us in here with them?" Lorne asked, "Did I tell you that I just don't look good with clay skin?"

Angel ignored him as he and Gunn closed and locked all the doors, then started handing out weapons, taking a broadsword for himself and giving a smaller one to Cordelia so she could wield it with Ashleigh on her other arm

"Fred, you're gonna stay in here and research these things," Angel said, giving her a small axe, "Find out how we can get rid of them"

"So what will the rest of us Magnificent Four will do?" Lorne asked

"Find where the rest of these things are coming from," Angel replied

Fred remained locked in the office, the axe by her side as she poured through the demonology books, trying to find the slugs, while the rest of the group were moving throughout the hotel, trying to find where the slugs were coming from

"God, I've never realized just how big this place was," Cordelia said, "Look at all these rooms we've never known about"

"Well, we had our rooms and so forth and I just never really bothered looking around," Angel said, "Everything was where I needed it really"

"Maybe we should open it up as a proper hotel?"

"Sounds like an idea. Maybe when the whole Shanshu thing is done"

Meanwhile, Fred was so busy researching that she didn't notice the slug crawling up the wall behind her. She felt something was wrong and turned around, just as the slug lunged at her. She opened her mouth to scream, which was a bad idea. She didn't get the scream out in time, as the slug buried inside; slipping down her throat and taking hold her body. So when the gang came back downstairs to check up on her, they found her at the water cooler, thirstily drinking the water

"Oh no, Fred, not you too," Gunn bemoaned

"Thirsty…so thirsty," Fred groaned, cracks starting to appear

"Okay, we gotta figure a way to get that thing out of her," Angel said

Fred grabbed a bottle of water, but Angel snatched it from her, holding it away as he pinned her to the wall with his other hand

"What are you doing here?"

"We came here to escape our realm," Fred replied, "We're so terribly thirsty. It's all because of you. You're the reason we're here"

"Where are you from and what are you fleeing?" Cordelia asked

"Our realm doesn't have a name. And we're fleeing a creature of great power, full of rage, hatred and destruction"

"Does this thing have a name and will it be coming to our world?" Angel asked

"It will come here and destroy your world, then it'll move onto the next world"

"The name?"

"The Destroyer"

"Well, that sounds cheery," Gunn muttered

Just then, the lights went out. Angel grabbed a few flashlights and handed them out, before heading back upstairs, followed by the others. Lorne had one arm around Fred's shoulders, as she continued drinking the water, while Gunn hung back, before slipping out the hotel and heading off into the night. The group were on the fourth floor, when Angel stopped by a room, listening intently. He opened the door, entering what appeared to be a large dining room or sometimes ballroom

"Hey, I can put Caritas here," Lorne grinned, looking around, then stopped short at the looks Angel and Cordelia were giving him, "Or not"

"Wait a minute, where's Gunn?" Cordelia asked

"We've got other problems," Angel said

He smashed his sword into the floorboards and kept breaking them apart

"Holy crap," Cordelia said, "I had no idea we had a pool"

"Not much for swimming in right now," Lorne noted

The pool was full of the slugs, all of them glowing luminously

"Well, aren't they pretty little things?" Cordelia said

"Why are they twitching like that?" Lorne asked

"I don't think they like to be disturbed," Angel replied, raising his sword

††††††††††

Wesley opened the front door, surprised to see Gunn before him

"I need your help"

Wesley scoffed at him and went to close the door, but Gunn stopped him

"Listen, Wesley, I need help. Fred's in danger"

"You know, when I laid there, my throat cut open and dying, all I could think about was my friends," Wesley said rasply, "And how I wanted to see them again, so I could explain why I did what I did"

"Fred's in danger. She's gonna die. It's these slug things. They get inside you and suck all your moisture out and you keep drinking until you die"

Wesley paused for a moment, then tossed Gunn a bottle of alcohol

"I'm doing this for Fred only. Don't come back here again"

And with that, he closed the door upon Gunn

††††††††††


	24. The Destroyer

††††††††††

Angel started hacking away at the slugs as they came at him

"Everyone, get the hell out of here"

Cordelia handed Ashleigh to Lorne, as he led Fred out of the room. The seer then took up her side next to Angel, hacking and slashing at the slugs

"Cordy, get out of here," Angel said

"No. I'm staying here with you"

"Cordy, behind you!"

Cordelia turned around as a slug leapt at her face. She reacted instinctively, catching the slug, as it squirmed in her hand, trying to get to her mouth. However, Cordelia's body started glowing bright white

"Angel?" she said uncertainly

Soon, the bright light completely engulfed Cordelia and she wasn't visible amongst the light, as it spread throughout the entire hotel, bathing it and blinding everyone inside. It only last for a few seconds, but seemed longer than that, as the light slowly diminished and Cordelia staggered slightly, as Angel caught her in his arms

"What was that?" he asked, before looking around, "Whatever it was, it took care of those slugs for us"

"Must be a little bonus the Powers threw in for me," Cordelia said

The couple headed downstairs; where Gunn was busy feeding Fred a bottle of alcohol. She gagged and choked, spitting up the slug, as Gunn stabbed a dagger into it

"What was all that light about?" Lorne asked

"Some sort of cleansing light," Angel replied, "Cordelia created it. From her own body"

"Yeah, baby, Mommy is something special now," Cordelia cooed to Ashleigh

"Extra package from the Powers?" Lorne asked

"Must be and thanks for telling me!" Cordelia shouted to the ceiling

"How'd you know to use alcohol?" Angel asked Gunn

"I figured that it would dehydrate the body," Gunn replied, not meeting his eyes

Angel had a feeling something else was going on, but decided to leave it for now. From there, the entire gang searched throughout the hotel, finding no trace of the interdimensional slugs, the searching taking up the rest of the night. The gang gathered together in the lobby just as the sun was starting to rise

"Everything's clear, there's no sign of those slugs anywhere," Gunn said

"That's probably the least of our problems right now," Lorne said

He was staring up at the ceiling, where a flash of gold energy would appear every now and again. A slug dropped out from one on the flashes, only to score a dagger to the back from Angel

"So that's where those little suckers are coming from? Lorne, would you know anyone who knows a thing or two about dimensions?"

"Yeah, I sure do. I'll get started on it"

Just as Lorne turned around, a flash appeared and a large demon dropped out, snarling menacingly. Angel gripped his sword, standing before the girls, as Gunn joined him, his car-rim axe in his hands. The demon roared and started for them, but something else dropped out of the flash, landing beside the demon and swinging his arm, decapitating it. The body dissolved, as the young boy then raised his arm towards Angel, a wooden tri-barrelled gun tied to his right arm

"Hi, Dad," the boy said

He was about sixteen years old, with short brown hair and blue eyes. He was covered in dirt and was wearing clothes that seemed to have been made from animal leather, a band of small skulls across his shoulders. A curved crude blade was attached to his left wrist, as he aimed the gun towards Angel

"Connor?" Angel and Cordelia said at the same time

'Connor' fired three stakes towards Angel. He angled his body, avoiding them, as Connor threw the gun aside, swinging his blade to deflect Gunn's strike, spinning around and backhanding Angel, then kicking him along the floor

"Are you sure that's Connor?" Fred asked Cordelia

Gunn slashed at his head, but Connor dropped and swept his legs out, before lashing out at Angel. He ducked under the blade, his back to Connor's. They blocked each other punches, before blocking each other's blades

"Can we stop and talk about this?" Angel asked

"No," Connor replied, hitting Angel in the back with his elbow

"Angel, if Peter Pan don't stop his crap, I'm gonna do someth-" Gunn started

Connor did a one-handed backwards spring flip, twisting around and backhanding Gunn, then slashed at his stomach. Gunn sucked his gut in, as Connor kicked him against the weapons cabinet. Gunn didn't get back up. Angel blocked Connor's blade and struck him, as Connor retaliated with a knee to the solar plexus, then kicked his leg out. Angel slid himself between Connor's legs, as the young boy turned and brought his blade down, but Angel blocked and kicked him back, before getting up

"Okay, let's calm down here for a minute," Angel said

Connor glared at him, then spun through the air like a tornado, flinging his bladed arm out. Angel blocked with his sword, as Connor twisted his arm, smacking the sword from Angel's hand and slashing him across the chest. He missed the flesh, as Angel grabbed his bladed arm and tripped him up, bringing the tip towards his throat. Connor struggled to force the blade away, but Angel was stronger, touching his skin with the tip, before snapping the blade off and tossing it aside. He got up and held his hand out to Connor, but he scrambled to his feet and headed for the door

"Connor! No, come back! Connor!" Angel cried, racing after him

Connor ran out through the door, into the sunlight as Angel followed him, but Gunn and Lorne grabbed Angel before he could run into the sunlight and dragged him back inside, as Connor disappeared onto the streets

"I don't believe it," Cordelia said, stunned as she sat on the couch, absentmindedly bobbing Ashleigh on her knee

"Neither can I, honey," Angel agreed, joining her, "He's back. Our son is back"

"You sure it was Connor?" Gunn asked sceptically, "I mean, a few weeks ago, he was a toddler, now he's suddenly a teenager"

"It was that place. Quor-toth. What else could it have been?" Angel said

"We have to find him," Cordelia said, "He's out there in LA. And we all know how dangerous this place is, all with the creepy-crawlies and monsters"

"I'm sure Connor can handle himself, but you're right. Gunn, you and Fred go out and see what you can find. I'm gonna wait here until the sun goes down"

"He's back," Cordelia said, "Our son has come back to us"

"I know, honey," Angel said, wrapping his arms around her, "And right now, he's out in the mean streets of LA. I'm going to bring him back home, right where he belongs"

††††††††††


	25. A New World

††††††††††

As soon as he left the Hyperion, Connor became confronted by the numerous vehicles on the busy LA streets. He leapt up onto the back of a bus and sat down; looking around at the strange world he managed to punch his way through to. He stayed on the bus for the next quarter-mile, before jumping off and heading through an alley to a part of downtown. He was walking along the bridge when he saw a young woman being assaulted by a group of men. Seeing that the woman was in distress and needed help, Connor jumped off the bridge, landing silently, before heading towards the group, just as the leader pushed the woman onto the bonnet of his car

"Hey," Connor called

"Well, lookie at this. You get lost from Neverland?" Tyler asked

Connor gave him a confused look, as the girl, Sunny, slid off the bonnet

"Leave her alone," Connor said

"Stay out of this, Peter Pan," Tyler threatened, drawing a revolver

"I said to leave her alone"

"And I said to stay out of this"

Tyler struck Connor across the jaw with the butt of his revolver. Connor barely flinched, as he hit Tyler twice across the face, knocking him down. Tyler's four cronies moved in to defend their leader. One of them swung a wrench at Connor's head, but he ducked under the weapon, grabbing the guy by his shirt and tossing him aside like he weighed nothing. He had dropped the wrench, so Connor grabbed it and struck a thug across the jaw. He heard bones breaking, as he kicked another thug in the chest, then sweeping the legs out from underneath a fourth thug. Connor quickly defeated the thugs, before slamming Tyler on top of the car, before stripping him of his leather jacket. He went to Sunny, before turning back to Tyler and cutting off his left ear as a small trophy

"What was that for?" Sunny asked

"So he remembers me," Connor replied

††††††††††

Angel sat inside the hotel, arms crossed and deep in thought as he waited for the sun to set. It had been a few days since he lost Connor to Quor-toth and now; his son was back in his life, albeit now a teenager. He didn't understand how, but decided that it didn't matter, now that Connor was back on Earth, but not quite safe. Los Angeles was a bad place to be if you were alone on the streets at night. Angel figured that Connor would have learned some things during his time in Quor-toth, as Connor was only human. It wouldn't be hard for a hungry demon to easily tear him apart

"Are they back yet?" he asked

"You'd know if they were," Cordelia said, "The sun is nearly set. Head out now. By the time you get to the streets, the sun would be gone"

"I want him back here, Cordy, safe and sound"

"Don't worry, you'll find him. You can't force him to come back, but I know that he will in time. Have hope, Angel"

"That's what I have you for, isn't it?"

Cordelia smiled and leaned over, kissing Angel on the lips

"Okay, now go," she said, breaking away from him

††††††††††

Connor and Sunny arrived at a small set of apartments. Upon arriving at her room, Sunny began rummaging through a pile of clothes, pulling a long-sleeved T-shirt and cargo pants out, before handing them to Connor, along with a pair of boots. He glanced at them, before staring at her in confusion

"Well, you can't just run around in animal skins," Sunny said

Connor dropped the clothes and promptly began removing his own. Sunny turned around to give him privacy. A minute later, his hand was on her shoulder, slowly turning her around to face him, dressed in the new clothes with his leather jacket and bandolier of small trophies on as well. Sunny smiled and caught by impulse, pressed her lips to his. Connor was confused by the kiss, but allowed it to happen. After several seconds, Sunny smiled and pulled away

"I'll be back in a few"

She headed off for the bathroom, as Connor sat on the couch and waited. He was feeling restless and alienated by the whole new world he was in. several minutes passed and Sunny didn't appear. Tired of waiting, Connor went to check in on her, finding her slump against the bathtub, a syringe sticking out of her arm

"Sunny?" he asked, gently shaking her, but with no response

He couldn't hear her heartbeat and removed the syringe, turning around and finding Angel standing in the doorway

"She…uh…" Connor started

"She didn't put this crap in you?" Angel asked, the protectiveness overcoming him, grabbing Connor's arm and lifting up his sleeves

"No!" Connor said, indignantly, pulling his arms away, "What are you doing here?"

"I came here for you, son. I want to talk to you. Your mother wants to talk to you"

"I don't have a mother. And I'm not your son"

"Whether you like it or not, your mother is at home, waiting for you," Angel said

Connor grabbed Angel by his coat lapels and ran him across the room, slamming him against the wall, a look of anger coming across his face

"I don't have a mother!"

"Is that what Holtz told you, Connor? That your mother doesn't exist?" Angel asked, "He's pretty good at lying"

Connor struck Angel across the jaw

"Don't talk about my father like that"

"I'm your father, Connor. Not Holtz"

"Stop calling me that! My name is Steven!"

"Alright then, let's go with Steven"

"You're him, aren't you? You're Angelus, the one who killed my father's family," Connor said, "A vampire. Who has a second face for killing. Show me the face!"

"Fine then, son. It looks like this"

Angel reluctantly vamped out, seeing the hatred in Connor's eyes, then shifted back, just as Tyler and two of his thugs burst into the room, wielding handguns

"Where is she?" Tyler demanded, "Where's Sunny? Oh, hello Peter Pan"

Angel stood protectively in front of Connor, as one of the thugs headed off

"She's dead," he said after several seconds

"Anything in that jacket is mine," Tyler said, pointing his gun at Connor

"How about we settle this without violence?" Angel suggested

"Who the hell are you!" Tyler demanded

"I'm his father"

"No you're not," Connor hissed

"Let me handle this," Angel growled back

"This is the police! We have the place surrounded! Come out with your hands up"

Tyler and his thugs responded by shooting through the door, as gunfire was returned, ripping holes through the wall. One of the thugs went down, as Tyler hid behind the TV, as Angel pulled Connor to the floor to avoid the gunfire

"Put down your weapons and come out with your hands up!"

Bullets continued to riddle the walls, as Tyler fired back with his revolver, his second thug getting taken down by three rounds to the torso. The gunfire ceased for a moment, as Angel pushed Connor towards the window

"Go, get going!"

Connor scrambled to his feet and ran for the window, as the door was broken open and a riot police officer entered the room. He scanned the room quickly, before seeing Connor running for the window. Thinking he was one of the crooks, the officer took aim with his shotgun. However, Angel saw this and leapt to his feet, just as the officer fired, blasting buckshot into Angel's back. He stumbled and fell, as Connor turned back, seeing him fall from the wound. A wound he suffered trying to protect him

"Go, now," Angel said, getting back up, "Come on!"

Covering Connor with his body, Angel fell through the window, landing on his feet, as Connor landed with him and they took off, as the rest of the squad entered and seized the room. The pair ran for a couple of blocks, getting some distance, until Angel had to stop from the pain pulsing through his body

"Thank you," Connor said

"Oh, it was nothing," Angel replied, "You should come back home, Steven. Your mother wants to see you properly. We should seriously talk, without cops and thugs"

"I'll think about it," Connor said

He ran off into the darkness, as Angel decided to give him some space and time, before heading off for the hotel. Connor watched him go, then raced off, coming to another alley, as someone stepped out of the darkness before him

"Hello, Father," Connor said to an aged Holtz

††††††††††


	26. Father and Son

††††††††††

"I wonder how Angel's going," Fred said, "Hope he finds Connor"

"Well, the dimensional crack has been closed," Lorne announced, "All done"

"Good. Now we won't have to worry about any more nasties coming through," Cordelia said, while changing Ashleigh, "Gunn, take this"

Gunn grimaced and grabbed the dirty nappy, holding it away from him as he walked off. Cordelia placed a new nappy on Ashleigh and smiled at her

"You think he'll find Connor?" Fred asked

"He's found him," Cordelia replied, looking past her

Angel entered the hotel, looking a little worse for wear as he sat down

"How'd it go?" Cordelia asked

"I found him," Angel replied, "We talked"

"With his hands?" Lorne asked

"Not all of it is from him. His name is Steven now. But he's still our son"

"He'll come back, won't he?" Cordelia asked

"Yeah. I hope he will"

††††††††††

"Days?" Holtz said in disbelief, reading the paper, "It has been mere days?"

"I got some food from a large metal box outside," Connor said

He dumped the food onto the table, before moving to the window, staring outside

"I don't like this place. Too many people. It's not like home"

"Quor-toth was never our home, son, it was our prison. And you found the way out"

"Cracks were already there. I just made the sluks show me"

"Rats fleeing from daylight. My boy's smart," Holtz smiled, patting Connor's cheek

"I'm sorry I didn't get to kill him," Connor said

"If you did, you wouldn't the boy I raised or the man I know you'll come to be"

"But he took so much from you. He deserves to die"

"That may be, but also, that's how we came to be together. Fate brought us together; Steven and I wouldn't have it any other way. God gave me a second chance. He gave you, so I lavish the love upon you I could never give my first children"

"Because he took them from you," Connor said, "I wish I had killed him"

"There is still much to learn, Steven"

"And I want to learn"

"Good. You must go to him," Holtz said, "Walk in his world. But always be on your guard. The demon will show you many bright and colourful things"

††††††††††

"Okay, so far, so good," Fred said, "Not much here, but here is where the portal was, so that's normal. Mark it done"

Gunn made a small mark on the floor, as Fred continued with her monitor. She had built it in order to track down anything that might have come out of Quor-toth. Angel was upstairs in his room, working with the punching bag, while Ashleigh was lying on the bed, watching him, as Cordelia came into the room

"They're searching for anything else that could have come out of the portal"

"That's good," Angel said, striking the bag a few times

"And I want you to know that what you're doing…is right. He'll come back"

"I hope he does. I hope he comes around"

"Of course he will, Angel. We're his parents. Connor will come back to us"

"I lost him once before, Cordy, I'm not gonna lose him again. I thought we would have so much to do together before he-"

"Grew up?"

"Hated me"

"He doesn't hate you, Angel. He doesn't know you. Don't worry, he will, once he realizes what he needs the most. A mother and father. Parents. Us"

"What if he doesn't come back?" Angel asked hesitantly

Cordelia pulled Angel into her arms, giving him a reassuring hug. He kissed her forehead, before breaking away and putting his shirt on, as Cordelia grabbed Ashleigh

"Let's go join the others," Angel suggested

The couple headed downstairs, hand in hand as they joined Fred, Gunn and Lorne

"How's it coming along?" Cordelia asked

"Nearly done," Fred replied, "Getting something here"

She followed her monitor, coming to the stairs and looking up, seeing Connor standing before her, a blank look on his face

"Oh, hi, Angel and Cordy's son. I didn't mean to click at you"

She joined the others, as Angel stepped towards Connor

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Fine," Connor replied

"Okay, um, everyone, this is Steven. Steven, that there is Fred, Gunn, Lorne, Cordelia and our daughter, Ashleigh"

"How you doing, young man?" Lorne asked

Connor didn't acknowledge his greeting or the others

"So, Fred, are we done here?" Angel asked

"Oh, yes, I think we are. I'll do a perimeter check, then calibrate it for larger areas"

She headed off with Gunn, as Lorne also left the hotel

"I'll leave you two to it," Cordelia said, "Ash and I'll go watch _Veronica Mars_"

"You sure, Cordy?" Angel asked, "You could join us"

"I'll hold your calls"

Cordelia smiled and walked off, as Angel and Connor both crossed their arms

"ANGEL, CAN YOU HEAR ME!" Cordelia cried suddenly, "HELLO? ANGEL, THERE'S A WOMAN AT A BAR. VAMPIRES ARE THERE"

"Cordy, stop yelling," Angel said, "What's going on?"

"There's a woman at a bar and vampires are there. They're gonna kill her"

"So much for holding my calls," Angel said, before turning to Connor, "So, uh, I gotta go and take care of this. It's kinda my job"

"That's okay," Connor said, heading for the door

"There's gonna be a lot of violence and killing. Interested?"

††††††††††

Wesley arrived at the nightclub, moving about on the second floor

"Nice of you to arrive. I thought the 'come alone' was quite ironic"

"Lilah," Wesley sighed, facing the lawyer, "Goodbye"

"Wait. Take a look down there"

Wesley sighed and looked down at the bar, seeing Justine having a drink

"A source told her that this place would be crawling with vampires. Which is true"

"And that same source told the vampires that she would be here, correct?"

"She's been pissing off a lot of undead Americans"

"And you thought I'd enjoy a box seat to her slaughter?"

"Well, yeah"

"Goodbye"

"Will he walk back to his car or will he stop to warn her?" Lilah asked, as Wesley paused, "He has to think about it. That's good. You can go now"

"What game is this, Lilah?" Wesley asked, his patience being tested

"To prove we're still friends, I'll have her pulled out before anything bad happens"

"That won't be necessary"

Angel and Connor were moving through the crowd towards the bar

"Here, take this," Angel said, handing his son a stake, "Remember, in there-"

"Heart, I know. My father taught me," Connor said

"I bet he did," Angel muttered, "Lot of innocents here tonight. Don't go staking anyone until they show their game face"

"Will it look like yours?"

"Yeah," Angel replied, before seeing Justine at the bar

Justine also saw him and started to rise up out of her seat, but a vampire grabbed her

"Why do you do it?" Connor asked, "If they're just like you?"

"I'm not like them, Connor"

"My name is not Connor"

Angel pushed his way through the crowd, spinning a vampire around and staking him. A second vampire blocked Angel's stake him, but the souled vampire flicked his wrist, staking the vampire, as Connor watched on. Justine was thrown into the shelves, as Angel struck a vampire, before backhanding a second and kicking a third. A large circle was made around him, as everyone watched the fight progress. A vampire went for Justine, but Connor leapt over the bar and staked him

"Go!" Angel cried to Justine, "Get out of here, now!"

He punched a vampire, then ducked under a fist and struck the vampire in the stomach, as a third vampire hit him in the face. Connor jumped over the bar, kicking a vampire in the chest, then struck another and uppercutted him, as Angel booted a vampire aside. Then, father and son stood back-to-back, exchanged a small look and continued the fight. Angel belted a vampire in the jaw and kicked another vampire in the stomach, as Connor struck two vampires with twin consecutive hits and staked the first of them. Whirling around with a roundhouse kick, Angel took a vampire down, before delivering a straight blow to a vampire's face, then blocked a fist and punched the owner three times in the ribcage, as Connor punched a vampire behind Angel

A vampire got up and ran out through the crowd, as Connor gave chase. Angel took care of the rest, before following after his son, catching his stake arm when Connor faced him, before smacking his hand so he staked the vampire coming up behind him

"They don't need to breathe or make any noise," Angel said, "You did good in there. Nice to see you can take care of yourself"

He made a small step and raised his fists, as Connor stepped back into a stance

"Nice to see you can do that too"

Connor smiled and soon, the pair were exchanging playful jabs with each other, smiling and laughing as they did…while Holtz watched them from a distance

††††††††††


	27. Patriarch Confrontation

††††††††††

Connor broke an Oreo apart and licked out the centre, as Holtz arrived back at their apartment. Upon seeing his foster father, Connor slightly lowered his eyes

"He was everything you said. He tried to convince me otherwise by saving people, but I saw through it. I've seen his true face"

"And I've seen yours," Holtz replied, "Anyone who saw you two together would think you belong with him, by his side"

"That's not true," Connor growled

"You need him, Steven. You wanted to meet him, that's why you broke through the barriers. It was your need for him"

"I don't need him. He's a demon!"

"And you're the bastard son of the demon"

"Then I'm a demon"

"No. I have no idea what you are, but there are answers and none of them I can give to you. Go back to him, Steven"

"You tell me not to be deceived, but you've let yourself be deceived!" Connor said

"If I could stop this, I would, but there are forces at work here more powerful than us," Holtz said, "God gave me to you, but now it's time I gave you back"

"Why are you doing this?" Connor asked

††††††††††

"The kid was made for it," Angel grinned, "I can't work out how it's possible really, but it's in his blood. You should have seen us, Cordy"

"I did," Cordelia replied from the bed

"How?"

"When you guys left, I went back into my vision. Don't ask me how, but I did. I saw the whole thing. You and our son together. It was beautiful"

Angel smiled at his girlfriend, just as Fred and Gunn came into the room

"We've got a problem," Gunn said

"What's that?" Cordelia asked, rising up from the bed

"We were tracking down emissions from Quor-toth," Fred said, "And found Holtz"

"Holtz?" Angel said, "Where is he?"

Cordelia left the room to check on Ashleigh, who was with Lorne down in the lobby, when she heard Lorne's raised voice. Frowning, she headed downstairs, finding the Anagogic demon confronting Connor, who was glaring at him with hatred

"What's going on?" Cordelia asked, stepping between the two, "Steven? Connor"

Connor glanced at his mother briefly, as she moved him away from Lorne

"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting him down

"He's a demon," Connor replied with hostility

"True. But Lorne's a good guy. Not all demons are evil. I mean, look at me. I'm part-demon. By choice. And-"

Connor drew a knife and attempted to stab her, but Cordelia caught his wrist, her other hand pressed to his chest, as she started glowing brightly. Connor was also trapped in the light, as it then faded away. The blade had shattered, as tears welled up in Connor's eyes and he let them loose, while Cordelia held him close, soothing him

"It's okay, baby, it's okay. I'm here now. It's okay"

She looked up to see Angel coming down the stairs

"What happened here?" he asked

"Little miss demony britches here must have got the full package from the Powers," Lorne replied, "The kid here was toxic. Heavy on the ick. She flushed him out. Kinda like a soul colonic"

Connor moved away from his mother, as the tears stopped falling. Cordelia got up and brushed a strand of his hair away from his face, before picking Ashleigh up and grabbing her small handbag

"Where are you going?" Angel asked

"Just…out. Is that okay?" she asked

"Yeah, okay then. Gunn, can you and Fred take Connor out somewhere"

"Like where?" Fred asked

"Some place that doesn't make him feel like this world is bad"

Gunn nodded and left with Fred, as Connor followed after him

"And where are you going?" Cordelia asked as Angel grabbed his coat, but he didn't reply, "You're gonna go see Holtz, aren't you?"

"Just paying him a visit. Not gonna kill him, although he deserves it"

"Oh, you can kill him. He took our son's childhood away. But don't lie to Connor"

"I'm not," Angel said

He left the hotel, as Cordelia sighed and followed out after him

"And now it's just me and my seabreeze," Lorne said, "I can live with that"

††††††††††

"I can't remember?" Holtz said, looking up from his letter, "If I have to invite you in"

"Motel. Public place. No invitation required," Angel replied

In one swift movement, he had Holtz pinned to the wall by the throat

"You took my son," he growled

"You killed mine," Holtz said calmly, "I keep yours alive"

Angel's grip lessened and he stepped back as he remembered that night in 1764

"I was different then"

"So was I. You feel remorse," Holtz said, "You feel remorse and yet, can't express it"

"You want me to say sorry?" Angel asked, "How can I? It wouldn't mean a thing"

"It would mean a little"

"Then I'm sorry. For whatever little it might mean. It's all I got"

"Not all. You had a son. I thought that by depriving you of that son, I would gain a small measure of justice. I was wrong"

"Taking Connor from me was never justice. It was vengeance"

"Maybe that's what I do now: give back what I took. I'm an old man. I have nothing to offer the boy. You can give him what I can't: his purpose"

Angel couldn't believe what he was hearing as Holtz stood beside him

"But every time you look at his face, every time he calls you 'father', you'll be reminded all that you took and can never give back. And if that is not vengeance, then I find I have no taste for it"

Holtz then handed Angel the letter in an unsealed envelope

"All I ask is that you give this to him. I think you'll want to read it. You should"

"Why are you doing this?" Angel asked, still disbelieving it all

"I love my son. This will ensure he goes on loving me"

Angel took the letter and with one last look at Holtz, left the apartment

††††††††††

Pulling up near the wharf, Angel opened up the letter and began to read,

_Dearest Steven,_

_This is a most difficult letter for me to write. You mean more to me than anything in this world or any other. But your best interests must come first, which is why by the time you receive this, I will be gone. I hope one day you will be able to forgive an old man's weakness which compels him to say these things in a letter. But to attempt a goodbye in your presence would be impossible for me. I fear I would never let you go and I must let you go. I know that if I didn't, you would only end up hating me and that I could not bear. Your destiny lies with Angel. I know that now. You will have a better life with him. I'm comforted by that certainty and in the knowledge that with him, you'll discover your true purpose and come to know who it is you are meant to be_

Angel let a brief smile pass over his face as he folded up the letter

"Connor"

††††††††††

Meanwhile, Connor arrived back at the apartment. He had been taken down to the ocean by Gunn and Fred and was staring at the open sea when he heard Gunn comment on Angel dealing with Holtz in his own way. Worried by this, Connor left the pair at the beach and sped off towards the motel, hoping to get there in time so he could stop Angel, having starting to become attached to his biological father. But when he burst inside, he found that Holtz wasn't around. He stepped outside, hearing crying from the back alley and went to investigate, finding the woman from the bar, Justine, sitting on the ground, Holtz's dead body lying on her arms, blood trickling down his throat from two puncture marks on his neck. Justine got up, wiping the tears away, as Connor fell next to his foster father's body

"Angelus was here," Justine said, "I tried to stop him, but he was too fast. He killed Daniel! I'm sorry"

She wiped a few more tears away, before making sure the icepick was hidden from sight, as she knelt beside the grieving Connor

"I'll help you get revenge on him," she offered

"Angelus," Connor growled in anger

††††††††††


	28. A Father's Love

††††††††††

"I promise you, Father, Angelus will pay," Connor said

He had buried Holtz out in the woods with Justine's help, although he had decapitated his foster father to make sure he wouldn't turn. Following this, they made a plan on how to get revenge on Angel, then Connor returned to the Hyperion

"Hey," Angel said, "Holtz has left town. He gave this to give to you"

"_It's a lie. It's all a lie,"_ Connor thought as he read the letter, _"What the demons wants"_

"So, uh, what do you want to do?" Angel asked

"How do you do what you do?" Connor asked, "Fighting, I mean"

"I could teach you if you want"

"Yeah. I want to learn"

††††††††††

"You know that morning after experience you get?" Wesley asked, "It came early"

He rolled over, as Lilah smiled and snuggled up to him

"Never thought a Watcher could be such an animal in bed. But now, duty calls"

She got out of the bed and started to get dressed, as Wesley remained in bed

"Don't be thinking about me when I'm gone," she said, heading for the door

"I wasn't thinking about you when you were here," Wesley shot back

Lilah ignored the comment and left the apartment, as Wesley got out of bed, putting his jeans on, before grabbing a shirt and pouring a glass of scotch, as someone knocked at the door. Loosely putting his shirt on, he answered the door

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Cordelia said, entering the room

"Please, come on in," Wesley said sarcastically, closing the door

"Why did you do it?" Cordelia asked, "Why did you kidnap my son and hand him over to the enemy?"

She noted how Wesley's eyes suddenly became filled with sorrow and self-loathing

"I didn't plan to hand him to Holtz. I was going to take him away myself"

"Why did you do it? And don't tell me 'because of the prophecy'"

"I had no one to turn to. I feel disconnected from Gunn and Fred. Obviously I couldn't tell Angel. I was alone"

"Yeah, lucky for you I was away on holiday," Cordelia said, "Can you imagine how I felt when I came back and my best friend had kidnapped my son?"

"Can you imagine how I felt when I was unable to completely explain myself to my friends, who turned their backs on me and I had nothing left in my life?"

Cordelia's expression softened slightly as she put Ashleigh onto the couch

"I tried so hard to disprove the prophecy, Cordelia," Wesley said as he began to pace, "But everything kept pointing to the signs and I believed it to be true"

"You do know that the prophecy was actually fake? Angel was never going to kill Connor?"

"Yes, Fred told me. She also told me to never return to the Hyperion under the penalty of death from Angel"

"It's not like I exactly blame the guy. Connor is my son as well, Wesley"

"Yes, I know. I was there when he was born, remember? I wanted to protect him"

"Why the hell couldn't you have called me?"

Wesley stayed silent as he thought about that. He had been so wrapped up in the prophecy and trying to disprove that Angel would kill Connor that he had forgotten about Cordelia, forgotten that Connor was her son as well

"I'm sorry, Cordelia. I'm so sorry for everything," Wesley said quietly

"I hope you do know that Connor is back to us, albeit-"

"As a teenager. Yes, I know. I saw him at the nightclub with his father"

"What were you doing at the nightclub? Trying to pick up?" Cordelia asked with the faintest of smiles

"Consorting with unsavoury company," Wesley replied, "But moving on"

"Well, hopefully, everything will turn out okay. Connor's come back to us and I believe that he will leave Holtz completely and be our son. And who knows? Maybe in time, Angel and I can forgive you and you'll be able to come back"

"I won't keep my hopes up," Wesley said

††††††††††

"That's good, that's good, keep your balance," Angel said, before grabbing Connor's arm and twisting it back, "You lose your balance, you lose"

He put Connor upright again and got into a stance

"And go"

Connor and Angel traded a few blocks and blows, as Gunn came in from behind

"Vampire," Angel called

Connor spun around and knocked Gunn aside, as Fred appeared almost instantly

"Civilian"

Connor moved Fred aside, as Angel came in again and they kept up their training

"Okay, that's good, you're getting good," Angel said

"I want to learn more," Connor said

"Is this kid a chip off the old block or what?"

"Well, I'm not playing vampire no more," Gunn said, groaning, "I give in"

"Can I be the vampire this time?" Fred asked, before growling loudly

"You're a vampire, not a lion," Angel said

Fred responded with a small growl, as Angel smiled and shook his head in amusement

"Tell you what, let's call it a night and go out somewhere. How about the movies?"

"What's that?" Connor asked

"Oh, we'll go to an action movie," Angel continued, "You'll love that"

††††††††††

The helicopters fired their missiles, destroying the landscape, as soldiers fought back, bullets blazing across and enemies going down from the bloody wounds

"How do they do that?" Connor asked in interest, eating popcorn

"Oh, it's all fake," Gunn replied, "But it's so cool. Girl, you ate all the popcorn?"

"Oh, I did too," Fred smiled, before giving him a kiss

"I'll get some more"

He hopped out of the Plymouth and headed off, as Connor watched the movie with interest. He had never seen anything like this before and it fascinated him. Just then, two assault helicopters flew up from behind the screen

"Is that fake too?" Connor asked

"No, that's definitely not fake," Angel replied

The spotlight played over the cars, before resting on the Plymouth, as soldiers clad from head to toe in black began descending from the helicopters on cables

"Tie me up, poke me with sharp objects?" Linwood said, watching from inside a van, "Oh, they'll pay for that. They should know they shouldn't mess with us"

Angel and Connor were out of the Plymouth in a flash, taking on the soldiers together. Angel punched a soldier, whirling around and delivering a backhand that dropped him, before blocking another soldier and striking him in the stomach, then grabbing him, spinning around once and throwing him into two more soldiers. Connor kicked a soldier behind the knee, bringing him down, then knocking him with a blow to the jaw, as another soldier came at him with a flying kick. Dodging him, Connor twisted his arm so he was pitched forward, before driving his knee into the soldier's stomach

"Hey"

A soldier whirled around, as Gunn tossed the box of popcorn at him, as Fred struck the soldier over the head with a wooden bat. Gunn moved in quickly, taking the soldier down with a few blows, before catching the bat from Fred and cracking another soldier across the face with it, flipping him onto his stomach

"Abort, abort, abort," Linwood ordered, "Get us out of here"

The soldiers had been defeated, as Angel spied a van and stormed over, ripping the doors open, before dragging Linwood out by his lapels and dangling him off his feet

"Are you suicidal?" Angel growled, "Stay away from my family"

Angel was suddenly pushed away, as Connor stepped before Linwood

"Stay away from him," he demanded, "Leave my father alone"

"We can help you, Steven," Linwood said, "You don't need to hang around with him"

"My name is Connor"

Angel smiled to himself, as Connor shoved Linwood back into the van and it sped off

"Come on, son, let's head home," Angel said, resting his hand on Connor's shoulder

††††††††††


	29. Angel vs Connor

††††††††††

"Happier times," Cordelia said, picking up the photograph of her, Angel and Wesley

Wesley slowly drank his glass of scotch, keeping an eye on Ashleigh, who sucked on her hand, while Cordelia was before the mantle, staring at the photographs

"I can't believe how much has changed. Look at how far we've come," she said, "I was the nastiest bitch in Sunnydale. Now I'm a mother of two children, whose father is a vampire with a soul. And you're no longer the bumbling Watcher"

"It is interesting where the paths in life have taken us," Wesley said, "However, some of those paths we've chosen haven't completely turned out for the better"

He gave Cordelia a wry smile, before finishing off his scotch

††††††††††

Angel, Connor, Fred and Gunn arrived back at the hotel, the vampire wearing a large grin as he removed his coat and threw it onto the couch

"Cordy? Cordelia, are you home?" he called

"She's still not here," Lorne replied

"Lorne, wha – why is there a suitcase with you?" Angel asked

Lorne sighed and glanced at Connor briefly, before heading into the office. Angel followed after him and closed the door

"I'm leaving, Angelcakes. I've got a calling somewhere else"

"Is this about Connor?"

"Okay, so yeah, it's partially because of the kid. Here, let me give you this"

He handed Angel an album, as Angel smirked at it

"Songs of Love, Lorne. Lovelorn, I get it"

"I sense everything is good between you and Connor," Lorne said, "So let me tell you this: now is the perfect chance for you and Cordelia"

"You mean the proposal?"

"Of course I mean the proposal. What else would I be talking about? Anyhow, tell her now, meet her somewhere, I don't know, just don't let this one pass or you may never get another chance. Adios, Angelwings"

Lorne grabbed his suitcase and left the office, exchanging small goodbyes with Gunn and Fred, then leaving the hotel, as Angel stood in the office, thinking about his words. Taking action, he left the office, picked up the phone and started dialling

"Hello?" Cordelia asked, answering on her mobile

"Hey, Cordy, where are you?" Angel asked

"Out and about with Ashleigh. I'll be coming home soon"

"Don't. Not just yet. Head out to Point Dume. Do you know the place?"

"I think so. Wait, yeah I know. We've been out that way a few times"

"Yeah, I wanna meet you there. It's a beautiful spot"

"Angel, what is going on?"

"You'll see. I'll meet you there?"

"Okay then, Angel, I'll see you there"

Angel smiled and hung up, before starting to hum

"What are you planning to do?" Connor asked

"I'm gonna meet your mother at this beach where we used to go for walks with you when you were a baby," Angel replied, "I'm finally gonna propose to her"

"Oh nice one, Angel," Gunn grinned, "Cordy's gonna love it"

"What do you mean by propose?" Connor asked

"It means I'm asking Cordelia to marry me," Angel replied, "It's a thing, Connor, I'll tell you more about it when we get back"

Humming, Angel grabbed his coat, then the car keys, before leaving the hotel

"He's humming," Fred said, "That's different. But he's happy. Hopefully, not too happy"

Connor watched his father leave, then excused himself to his room

††††††††††

"Okay, well how about that?" Cordelia said, after hanging up

"Dare I ask?" Wesley asked

"Oh, I'm just gonna go and meet Angel. It sounds kinda private, so you won't mind looking after Ashleigh for me?"

"Are you sure I won't kidnap her and send her to a hell dimension?"

"I'm sure you won't, Wesley. I won't be long, maybe an hour"

"Very well then, I'll try"

Cordelia gave him a small smile, before leaving the apartment, heading out to her car and then driving away towards Point Dume to rendezvous with Angel

††††††††††

Angel stood at Point Dume, overlooking the ocean crashing onto the beach. It was a beautiful spot and he knew it would be perfect for his proposal. Finally, after so much struggle and hardship in his life, everything was falling in place the way he wanted it. He had a beautiful girlfriend, who he hope would soon become his wife and his son, while previously lost to the enemy, had now returned to him and he had a young infant daughter. Angel was happy with his life as he waited for Cordelia, while ignoring the small, nagging voice at the back of his mind that while everything was going right, it would soon turn bad

"Where are you?" Angel asked himself, after checking his watch

It had been at least forty minutes since he called Cordelia. Sighing, Angel turned away from the cliff head, walking back to his car to continue waiting, when he saw Connor standing beside the car

"Connor. What are you doing here?" he asked

"Well, we're family. And I wanted to show you that"

Without warning, Connor lunged at Angel, tackling him as they fell over the cliff

††††††††††

"Why is the traffic so god-damn-freaking bad?" Cordelia demanded

She had been trapped in slow moving traffic practically ever since she left Wesley's apartment. Checking her watch, she saw it had been about twenty minutes since Angel called her and she had only gotten to the freeway. She knew that it could be at least another half hour before she finally reached Point Dume and Angel

"Come on! Come ooonnn! Hurry up! Can you go any slower?"

Cordelia groaned and placed her forehead against the steering wheel briefly, then looked up and saw the traffic was still slow. She had hoped they would speed up

"I have a meeting with a vampire, most likely because something big is happening, like say for a crazy moment, a proposal and you're wasting my time!"

††††††††††

Angel and Connor tumbled down the rock wall, coming to a stop on the beach, before getting to their feet. Connor quickly acted with a blow to Angel's face, while his second punch was blocked. Connor responded by kicking his father in the stomach, followed by an uppercut. Angel reeled back, managing to block Connor's next kick and punch, before angrily lashing out, but Connor trapped his arm

"Keep your balance," Connor said, "You lose your balance, you lose"

He arched Angel backwards, then knocked his feet out from underneath him. Angel was still confused by why Connor was attacking him and also by his son's speed and strength, taking blows to the face and stomach after getting to his feet

"Connor, stop – oooph"

Connor then drove his elbow onto Angel's back; dropping him to the sand, then lifted him up the duster and spun around, throwing him against the rock wall. Angel groaned in pain, before recovering in time to block Connor's two punches and kick him away. Connor stumbled back, growling in anger as he ducked Angel's punch and sink his fist into his father's stomach. Angel doubled over, but drove his knee upwards into Connor's face. Reeling back, Connor moved in again, feinting to his left and clocking Angel on the jaw. Angel staggered, as Connor then delivered a kick to his chin. Recovering, Angel caught Connor's fist on the backhand and yanked him off balance, then driving his knee into his stomach. Connor sank to his knees, clutching his stomach as he gasped in air

"Now, you're gonna stop this and tell me what the hell is going on," Angel demanded

"Okay, okay then," Connor said

Gaining back his breath, he leapt up, delivering another blow to Angel's face. Growling, Angel struck him back twice, before grabbing him by his shirt and throwing him towards the ocean. Connor rolled onto his feet, as Angel struck him in the face, followed by a kick to the chest that threw him into the ocean. Angel rushed into the water and grabbed Connor, holding him underwater for a moment, then lifted him out of the ocean, hoping the quick dunking would make him regain his senses

"What's gotten into you, Connor?" Angel asked

"You killed him," Connor gasped, "You killed my father"

"I am your father and what are you talking about? I never kil – argh!"

Angel staggered back, a knife protruding from his hip, as Connor rose up, punching him in the face. Angel gritted his teeth and struck his son, going for a second punch, but the pain in his side made his falter, as Connor ripped the knife away and stabbed it into his ribs. Angel cried out, backhanding Connor down into the surf. He removed the knife and tossed it aside, before reaching for Connor, but his son whirled around, smacking his hand aside and jabbing a taser into his ribs. Angel groaned, stumbling, as Connor jabbed him again and again rapidly. Angel collapsed, as Connor delivered a few more jabs to his chest to make sure he was down, then withdrew a small flashlight from his pocket and flashed it a few times, getting a response from out on the ocean. Justine then piloted the boat towards shore

††††††††††


	30. Tomorrow

Okay, here is the final chapter. It's short, I know, I'm prone to short final chapters. But anyhow, first off, I'd like to thanks for all the reviews, especially thanks to David Fishwick, as well as others. Secondly, I hope you like this last chapter

††††††††††

"Damn traffic," Cordelia growled, "I'm late. At least I think I'm late"

She took the turn off from the freeway and began the drive towards Point Dume, making sure she kept to the speed limit, but also wanting to catch up on time lost. She checked her watch and saw it had been at least forty-five minutes since Angel called

"I hope he's still there. I hope that if he is, he's not cranky and forgives me for this"

Ten minutes later and she was arriving at Point Dume, smiling when she saw the Plymouth

"There he is. And here I am, Angel," she said, pulling up near the car

She got out and looked around, but Angel wasn't anywhere in sight

"Angel? Angel, where are you? Angel, come out, this isn't funny"

She looked around the Plymouth, finding the car keys on the ground

"Angel? Come on, I'm here now, you can come out of hiding"

There was no reply, as she continued her search with no sigh of the vampire anywhere

"Angel?"

††††††††††

Piper rammed the stake through the vampire's heart, reducing him to dust as his would-be victim stepped away from the wall

"Thank you," she said, "He was going to kill me, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, he was. Lucky I was there. Now head off home"

The girl nodded and hurried out of the alley, as Piper shoved her hands in her pockets and left the alley, continuing her walk. She had been going for a small walk when she saw the vampire dragging the girl into the alley and gave pursuit. Lucky for her, she had been receiving some training in combat from Angel and Gunn, mainly on how to defend against and defeat vampires. Not that she minded, as it also gave her a chance to see the gang. Piper hadn't seen the gang for a while now, knowing that Cordelia would remain at the hotel with her two young children. As she continued walking, lost in her thoughts, she became aware of a sudden bright light before her

"What the?"

A large, silver-armoured demon appeared before her, as the light faded away

"Okay, so who are you?" Piper asked, getting into a defensive stance

"The name's Skip, young Piper Combs. Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you"

"Comforting. Okay, next question. How do you know my name?"

"Because the Powers are interested in you, Pipe"

"The Powers That Be? What do they want with a mere human like me?"

"Oh, you could be so much more than that, Piper. You know about the forces of darkness and yet you can't do much about it. You're not a sorcerer or a warrior. And I know that you want to have the abilities to fight evil, to become more than you are, so that in a way, you're equal to Angel and Cordelia"

"Okay, say I want to be more like Angel and Cordelia and the gang and be able to kick some evil ass," Piper said, "What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm going to ascend you," Skip replied, "Ascend you so you can fight evil. All you gotta do is say yes. Think about it. It's a one in a lifetime offer"

"Okay then, let's ascend me then. Cordy's gonna love this," Piper said after a few minutes

Skip smiled and pressed his hand to her forehead. Piper closed her eyes and felt herself lifting into the air, surrounded by a bright light

††††††††††

Angel opened his eyes, finding himself strapped down inside a box. Connor and Justine were finishing the touches to the steel cables holding him down. Feeling the box sway, Angel had a feeling that they were out on the ocean

"Connor, don't do this," Angel said, "I didn't kill Holtz. She knows the truth"

"He's lying," Justine said, "The demons always lie to get what they want"

"Death is too good for you," Connor said to Angel, "You get to live forever"

"You'll come to regret this," Angel said, "You'll hate yourself for this. Don't. Just know that I am your father and that I love you"

"Liar!" Connor said

He placed the lid over the box, as Justine slid the bars into place, locking Angel inside, then welded the bars shut, while Angel continued to call from inside the box. Connor ignored him as he shoved the box out into the ocean, watching the box disappeared beneath the surface. Angel watched sadly as he sank into the ocean depths, coming to a rest on the ocean floor, hidden away from sunlight

††††††††††

Cordelia slowly made her way down the small cliff. She had tried calling Angel and heard a small tone nearby. Reaching the beach, she looked around until she saw a small flash of light and picked up Angel's mobile phone. He was nowhere to be seen and Cordelia knew that something bad must have happened

"AAANNNGGGEEELLL!!!"

There was no reply, as Cordelia stood on the beach, not knowing that her son had just sunk his father to the bottom of the ocean, while one of her friends had been ascended into the heavens, eventually winking out of existence all together. Cordelia felt the sadness well up inside her, before resolving to find Angel, no matter what

††††††††††


End file.
